The European Commission will require Kosovo and Serbia to take immediate steps to implement the Agreement on the normalization of their relations, known as the Ohrid Agreement, along with other obligations arising from the dialogue process. 

This directive is included in the draft Progress Reports for both Kosovo and Serbia, which are set to be approved in Brussels at the end of this month.

Radio Free Europe has been informed about these texts, which remind both parties that their journey towards EU membership is contingent upon the normalization of relations, now formally an obligation for both countries.

The draft reports state that while Kosovo and Serbia have participated in the dialogue, they are urged to demonstrate more serious and constructive commitment to moving forward.

Kosovo and Serbia are requested to avoid actions and provocative rhetoric that threaten stability and are inconsistent with dialogue and reconciliation. The lack of action from Serbia to bring those responsible for the attacks on the Kosovo Police in Banjskë to justice is noted as a barrier in the normalization process, as well as Kosovo’s failure to initiate the procedure for establishing the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority.

“The normalization process [of relations] continues to be affected by the lack of sufficient steps from Serbia to ensure accountability and bring those responsible for the violent attacks by armed Serbs from Kosovo against the Kosovo Police on September 24, 2023, in Banjskë, which was the most serious escalation in recent years,” states the draft document.

It calls for Serbia to fully cooperate and take necessary measures to apprehend and swiftly bring to justice those responsible for these attacks.

The report assesses that tensions in northern Kosovo, an area populated mainly by Serbs, remain high, and criticisms of the Kosovo authorities for what are deemed “uncoordinated actions,” which are said to have incited tensions, are reiterated. The ongoing boycott of Kosovo’s institutions by Serbs is considered a “serious setback for Serbia in fulfilling its obligations from the dialogue.”

The European Commission requests that the parties in dialogue respect the Agreement on official visits, allow visits by chief negotiators to each other’s territories, and ensure Kosovo’s participation in regional initiatives.

There is also a call for the functioning of regional initiatives not to be affected by bilateral disagreements between Kosovo and Serbia.

In this annual document, the European Commission urges Kosovo to initiate the procedure for establishing the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, using the draft statute proposed by several European countries, which was submitted to the parties in October 2023 as a basis.

The Progress Report criticizes both Kosovo and Serbia for failing to implement agreements. This proposal, according to the report, is based on best European practices and is in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo.

Meanwhile, regarding the proposal submitted by the management team composed of Serbs from Kosovo, it is stated that it was not in line with the agreements of the dialogue, hence it is requested that the so-called “European proposal” be taken as the basis.

The draft report on Serbia states that the obligations to implement the Agreement on the road to normalizing relations are a formal part of the negotiation framework for Serbia’s EU membership under Chapter 35.

Thus, for Serbia, Chapter 23, which relates to the rule of law, and the normalization of relations with Kosovo will condition the dynamics of the entire integration process into the EU.

The enlargement package and the Progress Reports for ten countries in this process will be approved at the European Commission meeting on Wednesday, October 30, in Brussels.

This will be the last package approved by this composition of the European Commission, as a new five-year mandate will soon commence with a new composition.

/k.s/