Analyst: Vucic Could End Dispute with Kosovo Tomorrow

Aleksandar Vucic, Albin Kurti (FOTO: European Council/Mario Salerno)

Leon Hartwell, an analyst at the Washington-based Center for European Policy Analysis, has stated that the main reason why the dispute between Belgrade and Pristina is still ongoing is that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is not prepared to marshal support for recognizing Kosovo's sovereignty. Vucic could end the dispute with Kosovo tomorrow, if he wanted to, but won't because he thinks it benefits him. It seems he's happy with the status quo, Hartwell told the Voice of America on Feb. 5.

Hartwell analyzed the Balkan tour and visits to Pristina and Belgrade of Western officials Gabriel Escobar and Miroslav Lajcak, noting that the predominant public impression was that forming the Community of Serb Municipalities, one of the Kosovo authorities' obligations according to the Brussels Agreement, was a necessary condition for resolving the dispute between Belgrade and Pristina.

However, there is no proof that this would contribute to Serbia recognizing Kosovo's independence.  So, in a way, the European Union has given the Serbian president a chance to have a scapegoat in Kosovo Premier Albin Kurti, leaving the burden of the dialogue to him. And Vucic has Kurti's non-cooperation as an excuse for the current standstill in the dialogue. I don't think that's beneficial and is not the main cause of the standstill in the talks, Hartwell said.

He added that, while the European Union was laying the blame for the lack of progress in the dialogue on Kosovo, the increasingly more pronounced authoritarianism of the Serbian president is not being publicly mentioned. Neither is the accelerated militarization of Serbia, unconditional support for the Kremlin in spite of the events in Georgia and situation in Ukraine, or the lack of readiness to condemn China for the genocide committed against the Uygur minority, Hartwell noted, adding that Serbia, Russia and Belarus periodically held joint military exercises.