Izvor: N1 televizija, 05.Jun.2018, 17:13 (ažurirano 02.Apr.2020.)
Belgrade-Pristina normalization most complicated process
The normalization of Belgrade-Pristina relations is the most complicated process in the Balkans, European Union Pristina office chief Nataliya Apostolova said on Tuesday.
Both sides need steady encouragement from the international community to reach a solution and progress towards EU membership, she told the Brussels-based Euractiv portal. “It is extremely vulnerable and sensitive because we know the history and the legacy behind it. But the dialogue is the only game in town because >> Pročitaj celu vest na sajtu N1 televizija << there is no other way the normalisation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo could happen.” She said
Serbia, which has been negotiating EU membership since 2014, had already launched an internal dialogue about the issue while Kosovo has yet to do it. “They want to see the end game on both sides. I cannot say what form, and if recognition will be the end game, but if the two sides do not meet and discuss that, if they do not start to negotiate the package… we will never get to that point. So I think all sides, international partners and friends, who want to see this dialogue succeed, have to encourage it. Here is the real strength of the EU, the EU Pristina office chief said.”
Apostolova said non-recognition was a cause of concern in Kosovo which resurfaces “every time we talk to the authorities”. “They are a bit concerned because there are still five non-recognisers among member states, so in a way, they think ‘even if we progress quite well on the reform agenda, at the very end, we are going to be stopped again… because we have status neutral of five member states'”, she added.
Apostolova said there have been ethnic incidents in recent months involving Serbs and Albanians, which was “worrying, starting to look like tit for tat”. But, on a positive note, work on a statute to regulate the status of Serb municipalities in Kosovo has resumed after a long time and should be completed by August.
“If in this statute, the guarantees of the rights of Kosovo’s Serbs are well spelled out, if their worries about security, property rights, access to civil registry, documentation, justice, with the participation of Serbian judges as well, are addressed, this period of lack of trust will be overcome.” “But no one says it will be easy and I think again that dialogue is the only solution in this process.”
