EU-facilitated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia: Recent achievements and upcoming challenges

It has been two years since the April Agreement between Serbia and Kosovo, mediated by the EU. All in all, both parties have shown a willingness to implement the agreement within their territory. The recent agreement on justice and judiciary in Kosovo is proof of further normalization of their relationship. However, several issues remain.

 After six months of inactivity due to internal political squabbling, Kosovo has moved on to continue working on its development as a state. The EU has been one of the main facilitators for continued Serbia-Kosovo dialogue, and the creation of a Kosovar coalition government in December 2014 made sure that the negotiations could move forward once again.

High Representative Federica Mogherini said: "We agreed that, now that there is a new government in Pristina, work should resume at an intensified pace in the EU reform agenda so that good progress can be made in the next year, both in its internal development and in its EU path."

 In 2014, the Government of Pristina outlined two specific issues from the April Agreements that had not yet been addressed. First of all, the civil protection structure has been a concern for some time. This ‘parallel’ structure consists of a Serbian police force controlling the North of Kosovo. The second issue was a demand for reform of the judicial system, and the question of admittance of Serbian Judges within the Kosovar Justice system.

Both of these demands are now being institutionalized. The 2015 judiciary agreement represents yet another step forward for the aspiring nation. Not only does it represent the possibility of a functioning judicial system with a mixture of Serbian and Albanian judges and prosecutors, it also pushes Kosovo and Serbia closer towards an accession to the European Union. Furthermore, an earlier agreement allowed 500 Serb policemen to join the Kosovo Police, another step towards integration and a solution of the Kosovar grievances. However, the Serbian Civil Protection Forces, which the Kosovars consider to be a threat to their sovereignty, remain up until now present within the North.

The Serbian Prime Minister A. Vucic took a positive stance after the latest agreement, but pointed out two other potential stumble blocks for the future. The first is a long-lasting stand off over the rights of the Trepça Mine. Serbia has taken up its right to control 75% of the influential mine. Recently, the (Kosovar) miners decided to go on strike as a measure of protest against this Serbian control. The new Kosovar Government consequently attempted to nationalize the mine, but was forced to abandon this strategy under EU and Serbian pressure. The relevance of the Trepça mines cannot be underestimated. During the existence of Yugoslavia, it accounted for over 70% of all its mineral wealth. Economically, these mines could constitute an enormous boost for whichever nation ends up owning the rights.

A second issue raised by Prime Minister Vucic was the creation of an Association of Serbian Municipalities with autonomous powers. The previous Municipalities were declared illegal after the April Agreement, but EU-negotiators have recognized the necessity of local representation for the Serbian population within Kosovo.

Overall, the EU-facilitated negotiations can be considered a success. However, Kosovo faces many more challenges in its quest to become a fully functioning state. Along with the previously mentioned issues, the European Parliament has observed several other problems within the region. The unemployment rate fluctuates at around 45%, corruption remains a daily occurrence and EULEX, responsible for giving assistance to the Kosovar governments, has seen its popularity within Kosovo decrease yearly.

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