The most important event in terms of the future cooperation between Kosovo and Serbia was the signing of the AGREEMENT in April 2013. This was an important topic much discussed in the public, but the details are still being negotiated with the mediation of the European Union and Lady Catherine Ashton.
This intensive dialogue is of significance not just for the two countries involved, but for Europe and the wider world. All the conflicts in the world, wars, disputes, etc. were ultimately resolved through dialogue, something that is at the core of this Agreement.
Some of the more interesting topics of the dialogue are still open, including the issue of the Telecom company and energy policy. The Kosovo authorities have requested that the country code of +383 be assigned to Kosovo, but the Serbian government has refused the request.
The dialogue has shown that there are problems in reaching compromises on both sides, and that certain particularities of the agreement are differently interpreted, whereby each side uses the interpretation to sway matters in the direction of its unilateral interest.
The elections are another important topic in the Agreement. Citizens in the north of Kosovo did not participate in the previously held elections, so the premiers of both countries, with EU mediation, agreed to have elections on 3rd November in the entire territory of Kosovo, including the north (Severna Mitrovica, Zvečan, Leposavić, Zubin Potok). Members of the Serb community had boycotted the previous elections fearing the government would be made up exclusively of Kosovo Albanians. They also did not participate in the local or parliamentary elections despite there being reserved seats for Serbs in the Kosovo Parliament. However, in contrast to what happened in the past, it seems they will participate in the upcoming elections. Ten Serb parties have already registered with the Central Elections Committee. [1]
Apart from this, the constant major problems faced by all citizens of Kosovo are: lack of freedom of movement, high unemployment (mostly among the 18-30 age group), privatisation of major public enterprises (Telecom and energy complex), widespread corruption, and constant incidents and violence (such as the murder of the EULEX police officer).
All of this has been keeping the inhabitants of Kosovo in a state of elevated tensions for years, making them fear the future, new outbreaks of violence, and is not conducive to stabilisation and peace-building in the region.
One positive event took place at the end of September when Mitrovica hosted the First Youth Conference of the Cities in Transition Forum. Youth representatives from Belfast, Derry-Londonderry, Jerusalem, Kaduna, Ramallah, Tripoli and their hosts from Mitrovica exchanged experience from their locations and compared similarities they share. [2] One of the main conclusions of this exchange was the necessity for communication between different people, the necessity of strengthening communication between the Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo Albanians, and members of other communities present in Kosovo. The significance of this event lies in its rarity, especially in Mitrovica, so the media devoted considerable attention to this meeting of young people and the strengthening of links between them. We hope that this will encourage the establishment of more organisations working to improve ethnic relations and events foregrounding these relations, and that the work of existing organisations will become more visible to the public.
Lulzim Hakaj
[1] Data from the end of September 2013, at the time of writing.
[2]