"Only autonomy will make Kosovo Serbs loyal to Pristina"

Journalist Andreas Ernst, an excellent connoisseur of the conditions in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, in a commentary for the Swiss Noye Zircher Zeitung, refers to the letter of 55 "leading foreign politicians of the USA, Great Britain and Germany" in which they criticize the decision-makers in Washington and Brussels for sanctioning Pristina , instead of pressing "Belgrade that interferes in democratic processes in Kosovo". Things, however, are not so simple, according to Ernst.

This is not a democracy beauty contest

"The fact that the West has sanctioned Pristina is a novelty. So far, Washington's pressure has always been enough to force Kosovo's politicians to give in. But Kurti is of a different caliber. He is not corruptible and therefore cannot be blackmailed. And he is stubborn. Kosovo progressed under his leadership. The division of power is stronger than before, media freedom is greater than in all neighboring countries, and especially in Serbia: Vučić turned that country into a party state, and the leading media are willing propaganda instruments."

"But - and this is crucial - the conflict over northern Kosovo is not a competition in the beauty of democracy," writes Ernst. "It is about solving the issue of northern Kosovo. The formula for that is clear: in exchange for accepting the Kosovo system and working in its institutions, the Serbs get autonomy."

The Swiss newspaper then reminds that "this is exactly what was agreed in 2013 in an agreement under the auspices of the European Union". The result of that agreement was that "Kosovo Serbs joined the Kosovo Police Corps, and Kosovo Serb judges handed down verdicts in accordance with Kosovo laws. This made the parallel institutions controlled by Belgrade unnecessary or weakened them."

Community – agreed upon, never realized

However, the author states that "that essential element for the integration of Serbs - the partial autonomy of the Serbian community - was never achieved. Prishtina refuses to introduce the institution agreed upon by the agreement, fearing that it will give Belgrade a Trojan horse to infiltrate the young country".

At the same time, two facts should be kept in mind, writes Noje Zircher Zeitung: "First, Serbia definitely lost Kosovo." The author briefly states that "the repressive policy of the 1990s and the war crimes of 1998 and 1999 made life with Kosovars permanently impossible." In addition, "Belgrade lost the war against NATO in 1999 and failed to prevent the secession of Kosovo in 2008."

"Secondly, in 15 years of its independence, Kosovo has failed to integrate the Kosovo Serbs". It is a "Herculean task", the author assesses, because "the vast majority of Serbs accept the state of Kosovo only to the extent that they have to do it for pragmatic reasons. Prishtina has taken almost no steps to change that."

Kurti does not understand the dialectic of federalism

"That brings us back to the Union of Serbian Municipalities," writes the author of the commentary: "It is the only chance for the Serbs - precisely because they will then be more independent from Pristina - to improve their relationship with the state of Kosovo." But Kurti does not understand the dialectic of federalism. Instead, he builds police bases in the north of Kosovo and defines the problem as a matter of law and order."

Therefore, Andreas Ernst believes that "it is correct that Brussels and the Americans are putting pressure on Pristina, because for the Union of Serbian Municipalities there are only two alternatives: the exodus of Serbs (which many in Kosovo are counting on), or the exchange of territory in which the Albanian-populated Preševo ​​Valley would belong to Kosovo, and the north of Kosovo again to Serbia. But the West rejects that option."

At the end, the author states that "the petitioners from Washington, London and Berlin should encourage Kurti to finally form the Association of Serbian Municipalities".