Kosovo on the course of confrontation with the EU

They are collecting signatures all over Kosovo. Associations of veterans of the former rebel organization KLA (KLA) want the creation of a Special Court for their crimes to be put back on the parliament's agenda. The court is anti-Albanian and smears the liberation war, they say. This position is popular, and the required 10.000 signatures should be collected quickly.

Veterans received protective support from the very top. In his speech before the soldiers of the "Kosovo Security Forces", troops under light weapons, President Hashim Thaci sharply attacked the Western international community: the EU imposed this Court on Kosovo under great pressure.

Tachi suddenly sounds different

After a long delay, in August 2015, the parliament in Pristina adopted a law declaring this Court an institution of Kosovo law. Thaci, then the foreign minister, managed to direct his party to that course with the utmost effort. He himself voted for the Court only because a partnership with the USA, the EU and NATO was made available. The West has actually threatened that the Special Court will be organized at the UN, if Kosovo does not end its resistance to the Court financed by the EU.

But Thaci is now preaching that Kosovo should stop with "servility" and concessions towards international players. The time has come to close certain foreign missions, which spread the image of Kosovo as an immature country. Until now, such tones could be heard from the opposition party "Self-Determination" (Vetevendosje), which has been fighting for years against the "colonization of Kosovo" by the UN and EU mission (EULEX), which have been in the country for eighteen years. ten years. But why did Thaci turn sides now? Where did this harsh rhetoric come from, merciless even towards the so far highly valued "American friends"? Thaci answered these questions without question at a debate in Pristina. Western ambassadors promised him: if the Court passes, he will receive visa liberalization and permission to create his own army. But the West broke its word. The EU representation in Pristina denies the existence of such an agreement.

Another explanation for Thaci's frustration sounds logical. Kosovo is in a total political blockade. Ten years after the declaration of independence, the construction of the state is incomplete, and international recognition has not been fully achieved even within the framework of the EU. In addition, the visa wall separates two million inhabitants of this country from the EU, which has already abolished visas for countries such as Ukraine and Georgia. The anger of the Kosovars can be understood, but they mostly hid this debacle themselves.

As a condition for abolishing the visa regime, the EU requires the ratification of the border agreement with Montenegro, which has been on hold for two years. Part of the parliament believes that Kosovo will lose 8.000 hectares of land in the border area with Montenegro. The two commissions were already bending over the maps, old and new, but there was no agreement. And the government is divided among themselves.

There is no progress in the implementation of the Normalization Agreement with Serbia in Kosovo either. There is widespread resistance against the agreed establishment of the Union of Serbian Municipalities, which many Kosovars reject as a dangerous foreign body on their own territory.

Changing roles with Serbia

The inability of Kosovo politicians to bridge the trenches and offer themselves to the West as constructive partners has led to a shift in the perception of the Kosovo issue in many European capitals. The image of the province oppressed by Belgrade has faded. If until now the politicians of Kosovo have almost always behaved verbally condescendingly towards their mentors, today they are showing themselves to be more and more stubborn. Negative feelings in EU capitals are also caused by the awareness of the failure of the EU Mission, which, despite huge financial expenditures, failed to help Kosovo: neither politically nor economically.

In addition to such a Kosovo, Serbia suddenly looks quite good. Its powerful president holds the country firmly in his hands, there is no sign or voice of any opposition. Aleksandar Vučić already helped the Europeans in overcoming the refugee crisis. Now, for Europe's relief, they will at least de facto recognize the independence of Kosovo. His flirtation with Moscow is guaranteed to attract the attention of Berlin and Brussels: Belgrade is allowed to open two more chapters of accession negotiations with the EU. Serbia suddenly jumped into the completely unusual role of "good guy". And that alone is enough to explain Kosovo's deep frustration.

Neue Zuercher Zeitung (NZZ)

Translation: Mirko VULETIĆ