Panel: French-German Proposal Is Not A Final Agreement

Igor Novakovic (Photo: PrintScreen YouTube)

The panelists of the working group of the National Convent on the European Union for Chapter 35 concluded in Belgrade on Jan. 26 that the signing of the French-German agreement would not represent the final agreement on the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, but an intermediate step before the request for the official recognition of Kosovo by Serbia.

The coordinator of the working group, Dragisa Mijacic, has stated that he had recognized four principles in the draft agreement: "The first is to find solutions that guarantee the safety and prosperity of the Serbs in Kosovo; the second is to improve trust between the Albanians and the Serbs, then there is economic cooperation and development of infrastructure, and the fourth principle of the EU is Serbia and Kosovo's prospects."

During the panel discussion titled "German-French proposal for normalization agreement – much ado about nothing?!" Mijacic said that the agreement should be an intermediate step, while the final agreement on normalization would probably be formalized through Serbia's admission into the EU, when the official recognition of Kosovo would also be requested.

The director of the Center for International and Security affairs, Igor Novakovic, stated during the discussion in the Media Center that the main purpose of the agreement was "to fully de-escalate the situation" between Belgrade and Pristina while the war lasts in Ukraine, and to enable certain countries to change their stance on the status of Kosovo.