EU Commission replies to Osmani: Dialogue with Serbia must continue

The European Commission has rebuked the comments of Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani who said there can be no continuation of dialogue with Serbia until measures are enforced on Serbia for its alleged involvement in the terrorist attack in north Kosovo on 24 September.

At the EU Political Community Summit in Granada last week, Osmani said there is no reason to meet Vucic until sanctions are imposed “so they will not be encouraged to repeat such acts against Kosovo and its neighbours again and again.”

The Commission’s lead spokesperson on foreign affairs, Peter Stano responded by saying, “There is no other way, we must return to dialogue. The EU is the facilitator of the dialogue, the EU is an honest mediator that helps the parties to find consensus.”

“Both sides must understand that the dialogue must continue and that they must engage in a meaningful way by trying to reach the necessary compromises to normalise relations. As for September 24, we await the full results of a completed investigation to have a clear picture of what happened and who was behind it.”

The EU continues to insist on a full investigation to be concluded before it takes measures against Belgrade. This is despite the former head of the Kosovo political party, Serb List, Milan Radoicic, admitting he led the EU-classified “terrorist attack.”

The Serb List is an ethnic Serb minority political party with close links to the Serbian government and the Serbian Progressive Party, led by President Aleksander Vucic.

The call to impose measures on Serbia is increasing from MEPs, regional leaders, and other stakeholders, as evidence of links between the attack and the Serbian state continues to emerge.

One of those involved in the attack who was killed was Bojan Mijailovic, the personal bodyguard of Serbian intelligence chief Aleksander Vulin who is sanctioned by the US, and another was revealed as Milorad Jevtic, a close associate of Vucic’s son, Danilo, having entered Kosovo with him four out of five times in recent years.

Furthermore, documents were found linking some of the weapons to the Serbian army, and an investigation by BIRN revealed that weapons used in the attack had been made in Serbia in 2022, while some mortar rounds and grenades had been repaired in Serbian state maintenance centres in 2018 and 2021.

Belgrade and Vucic, however, continue to deny the state had a hand in the attack.

“It is always easier to accuse Belgrade. Who is going to believe that it is different? Almost nobody”, Vucic said, adding, “It is also easy to find weapons, not only in the black market. Kosovo police that chased Serbs carried AK weapons made in Kragujevac.”

As for the involvement of his son, he said he had “nothing to do” with the attack, adding, “The first characteristic of a coward is when someone attacks another’s family, his children because they are always the easiest target.”

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Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla-Schwartz also told Euractiv that it is impossible to go back to dialogue as things stand, not just because of the attack, but because of the lack of progress so far.

She added that dialogue should also only continue when Serbia recognises Kosovo.

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MEP Viola von Crammon told Euractiv that the EU has drafted measures against Serbia that will be enforced if the situation is not resolved.

“We are talking about political and financial measures related to accession negotiations. We have many tools at our disposal, and we know it is not in President Vucic ‘s interest, especially since he called for elections in December, for things to slip out of control,” she explained.

The measures, not sanctions, as the Council must approve these, have already been prepared.

“The measures have been drafted now…We are talking about political and financial measures, limited access to IPA funds, which will undoubtedly harm the Serbian government,” von Cramon said.

The draft measures, are currently confidential and still being worked on, according to EU sources.

Stano also elicited criticism for his comments that measures against Kosovo will not be lifted as there has been no progress in de-escalation as per EU demands.

“The member states have not yet seen enough steps from Kosovo for meaningful de-escalation, therefore the measures are still in force,” he said.

As the de-escalation measures include reducing police forces and special units in the north of Kosovo and holding elections which would include Serb List, who’s former leader was involved in the terrorist attack, critics have questioned how exactly this is meant to take place.

Furthermore, EU envoy for the dialogue Miroslav Lajcak said last week he favours the lifting of measures against Kosovo.

“In the current circumstances, it is not good that Kosovo is under negative EU measures…Lifting the sanctions? This is one of the possibilities that I personally support.” he said.

(Alice Taylor | Euractiv.com)