Neither Belgrade, Nor Pristina Have A Say On Continuing of Dialogue

Borko Stefanovic (BetaPhoto/Milan Obradovic)

The Belgrade-Pristina dialogue will continue with a lot of feet-dragging, insufficient transparency and a very questionable outcome, the former negotiator of Serbia in the dialogue, Borko Stefanovic, and the executive director of the Balkans Policy Research Group, Naim Rashiti, concurred on April 1.

Stefanovic, who negotiated with the Pristina delegation of that time, led by Edita Tahiri, while the Democratic Party was in power, believes that the dialogue would certainly continue, but with delays, because it is not a priority for the new Kosovo premier, Albin Kurti, who is occupied by the domestic public and winning political points at home.

"Neither he, nor Aleksandar Vucic have a say regarding the continuing of the dialogue, so we can expect it to resume. It is also certain that neither side would try to make any real progress and that everything would revolve around Pristina's demand for the recognition of independence by Belgrade, while Vucic will try to avoid the solution to the Kosovo issue via secret maneuvers that will have no results whatsoever," Stefanovic said.

Rashiti assessed that the dialogue was the toughest topic for Kosovo, but that it would continue because it was an important regional issue. "The dialogue will continue, but with different parameters, because that will be requested by the political option in Kosovo, which has constantly opposed the way in which the dialogue was developing. This implies that the dialogue would continue with some new inputs from the Kosovo government, at a later date, i.e. not during the initial days of forming of the institutions and the government," Rashiti stated.