Brussels and Washington Must Work Together on Kosovo Deal

Many topics, little consensus

Pedestrians walk in the Serb dominated northern part of the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/VALDRIN XHEMAJ

The deal may include: a land swap in which Serbia receives portions of northern Kosovo for lesser portions of southern Serbia; a supra-institutional Association of Serbian Municipalities in Kosovo - a body previously struck down by Kosovo's Constitutional Court; and, extraterritorial status for Serbian Orthodox churches—this has otherwise been a non-issue. Serbia's recognition of Kosovo has only been mentioned by the Kosovo side, as has Kosovo's membership in the UN.

An amnesty for war crimes committed in Kosovo was an option discussed in Kosovo. But the public response to this was clear and unequivocal: all war criminals should be tried for the crimes they committed, and all wartime victims should receive justice.

Serbia was the aggressor in the Balkan wars of the 1990s and the major perpetrator of war crimes - a Kosovo-Serbia deal should not invite a false equivalency.

Kosovo needs to achieve a consensual government, through new elections, before it can re-engage in normalisation. An alternative may be a one or two-year national unity government that includes Vetevendosje and either the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, or Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK. The voters' strong message of change in the October 2019 elections was distorted by political maneuvering that brought the new government down. Parties should once again present their political platforms and programmes, including on the Kosovo-Serbia talks.

President Aleksandar Vucic is likely to win another impressive majority in late June elections in Serbia, not least due to limited...