euractiv
Published: 05 November 2010
The unprecedented political vacuum left by the resignation of Kosovo's president in September and the no-confidence vote given to the government earlier this week threatens to kill the momentum of a rapprochement with Serbia, which recently expressed readiness to engage in talks with its former province, independent since 2008.
The culmination of a protracted political crisis in Kosovo saw parliament vote 66-1 to disband itself on 2 November. After the vote, acting Kosovo President Jakup Krasniqi announced that snap elections would be held on 12 December.
It was the first time that a government had been toppled by its own ruling party, after being called upon to vote by the sitting prime minister, the website Southeast European Times reported.
Speaking after the motion, outgoing Prime Minister Hashim Taqi said the country had been in crisis since President Fatmir Sejdiu resigned in September. Since the president of Kosovo is elected by parliament, the early parliamentary elections suggest that a new head of state is unlikely to be voted in this year.
Kosovo's first elections since it declared independence are expected to delay the start of European Union-sponsored talks with Serbia on improving their bilateral relations, agencies reported.
Dialogue with Belgrade should start "only after new institutions emerging from these polls are constituted," interim President Jakup Krasniqi reportedly said.
Serbian daily Blic quotes Albanian sources as saying that Kosovo politicians do not want dialogue at this stage. "That dialogue is not a priority on Pristina's agenda and that is why the situation regarding the fall of the government and calling early elections shall postpone talks between Belgrade and Pristina," one source is quoted as saying.
In the meantime, Serbian media reported that it remained unclear whether Serbs in the northern part of Kosovo would take part in the elections. In 2009 elections organised by the Kosovo authorities, the Serbian government advised Serbs in Kosovo not to take part.
Ethnic Serbs constitute around 7% of the country's population.
The Serbian government will make a timely, clear decision regarding Serbs' participation in the Kosovo elections to be held on 12 December, Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic stated, quoted by Radio Serbia. He called the decision "a state issue" with "state interests" at stake.
In the meantime, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday (3 November) that Turkey stood ready to mediate Kosovo-Serbia peace talks if his country were invited to do so.
Erdoğan made the statement at a joint press conference with host Hashim Taqi in Kosovo. Erdoğan made a two-day visit to Kosovo to discuss bilateral ties and recent developments in the country, the Turkish press reported.
Positions
Marko Papic, a policy analyst fromStratfor, an analytical website close to the US intelligence community, told EurActiv that both the European Union and the United States were losing patience with Kosovo.
"Kosovo elections will delay the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina to the chagrin of both the EU and Washington, both of which have urged Pristina recently to get to the negotiating table quickly. It is illustrating that the US and the EU are no longer giving Pristina a blank cheque as in the past, a trend that we have noticed over the past year, year and a half," Papic commented.Regarding Turkey's ambition to mediate, he said:"A possible Turkish role in the negotiating process further illustrates Ankara's rising clout in the region. Ankara has been very involved in trilateral meetings with Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina that have over the past year reduced tensions between Sarajevo and Belgrade and has used its clout during the Butmir negotiations in Bosnia-Herzegovina to show the EU that without Turkish participation regional efforts will fail."
[The Butmir negotiations, held at a base near Sarajevo, were a rather unsuccessful effort by the international community to promote constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The last attempt failed in October 2009. Turkey and Russia were excluded from the Butmir negotiations.]
"Ankara can use a successful role in Belgrade-Pristina negotiations as another lever to use on the EU, illustrating that Turkey is a key European partner for peace and stability in the region. Turkish involvement therefore bears watching both in the context of the Kosovo-Serbia relationship, but also in the context of Turkish EU hopes," Papic concluded.
General Xavier Bout de Marnhac, the new head ofEULEX,the EU's law enforcement mission in Kosovo, told BETA, EurActiv's partner in Serbia, in an interview that re-establishing the rule of law in northern Kosovo was one of his priorities.
De Marnhac went on to say that there were indications that this was what the local community wanted too and he would therefore visit that part of the territory soon.
BETA also quoted Kosovo European Integration Minister Besim Beqaj, who said that talks between Belgrade and Pristina "on technical issues" should begin after the territory had held early elections.
Beqaj said the Kosovo government had no particular position on the EU's recent decision to unblock Serbia's accession process, adding that this was in general a positive development.
"Everything good that happens [in the region] is good for us. We see it as an EU gift to Serbia, and it is a good sign both for Serbia and for others. We expect the EU to treat all countries in the region equally and according to the same criteria," Beqaj said.
EurActiv Turkey quotes Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as saying during his visit to Kosovo: "There cannot be a clash of symbols in the 21st century any more. No hostilities of beliefs can survive in the 21st century."
"Kosovo is never a far-away land or country. It has never been and will never be. Kosovars are our brothers. We are among the first few that recognised the independence of Kosovo and are making efforts for its global recognition."
Erdoğan visited the Kosovo province of Obilic, the hometown of Ottoman Sultan Murat the Fist, and opened an historic site after renovations. He used the occasion to recall that "the brotherhood between Turkey and the Balkans" dates back to the Ottoman Empire.
He said hatred, grudge and enmity contradicted the memory of the Ottomans, as in his words the brotherhood of the past was based on tolerance, mercy and love.
In this context Erdoğan added: "Meaningless battles on symbols, hostilities for some unforgotten reasons in the Balkans should be put an end. We want this as much as nations in the Balkans. We see the independence of Kosovo as a ray of hope for peace."
"More and more Turkish companies are making investments in Kosovo, putting key infrastructure projects into practice for the future of Kosovo. Each year, a thousand Kosovo students in Turkish universities are given scholarships," Erdoğan stated.
Next Steps
12 Dec.: Kosovo to hold early parliamentary elections.
Background
Kosovo seceded from Serbia in 2008, nine years after the end of a 1998-1999 war between Belgrade's security forces and ethnic Albanian guerrillas. In the following years, Kosovo was an international protectorate patrolled by NATO peacekeepers.
After Kosovo declared independence on 17 February 2008, the two million-strong republic, 90% of whose population is ethnic Albanian, established many of the trappings of statehood, including a new constitution, army, national anthem, flag, passports, identity cards and an intelligence agency.
Most EU countries, except Spain, Greece, Romania, Cyprus and Slovakia, have recognised the independence of Kosovo. Of all UN members, some seventy have recognized Kosovo so far.
On October 2009, the United Nations approved Serbia's request to ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) whether Kosovo's secession from Serbia was legal. On 22 July 2010 the ICJ delivered its ruling, which was ambiguous in many ways, but still said that Kosovo did not violate international law when it claimed secession from Serbia.
Unhappy with the ICJ ruling, Serbia took the issue to the UN. The original Serbian draft resolution called for fresh talks on all outstanding issues, but also condemned Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence.
But the EU warned Belgrade that insisting on the resolution could harm relations with Brussels and eventually its aspirations to join the EU. Finally, Serbia supported a compromise resolution on Kosovo fine-tuned by European Union diplomats, dropping its earlier demands to reopen talks on the status of its former province. The move was welcomed by Brussels and unlocked Belgrade's EU accession process.
Kosovo seceded from Serbia in 2008, nine years after the end of a 1998-1999 war between Belgrade's security forces and ethnic Albanian guerrillas. In the following years, Kosovo was an international protectorate patrolled by NATO peacekeepers.
After Kosovo declared independence on 17 February 2008, the two million-strong republic, 90% of whose population is ethnic Albanian, established many of the trappings of statehood, including a new constitution, army, national anthem, flag, passports, identity cards and an intelligence agency.
Most EU countries, except Spain, Greece, Romania, Cyprus and Slovakia, have recognised the independence of Kosovo. Of all UN members, some seventy have recognized Kosovo so far.
On October 2009, the United Nations approved Serbia's request to ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) whether Kosovo's secession from Serbia was legal. On 22 July 2010 the ICJ delivered its ruling, which was ambiguous in many ways, but still said that Kosovo did not violate international law when it claimed secession from Serbia.
Unhappy with the ICJ ruling, Serbia took the issue to the UN. The original Serbian draft resolution called for fresh talks on all outstanding issues, but also condemned Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence.
But the EU warned Belgrade that insisting on the resolution could harm relations with Brussels and eventually its aspirations to join the EU. Finally, Serbia supported a compromise resolution on Kosovo fine-tuned by European Union diplomats, dropping its earlier demands to reopen talks on the status of its former province. The move was welcomed by Brussels and unlocked Belgrade's EU accession process.
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