In December last year, I argued optimistically in my blog “A New Start for the Western Balkans?” that there will be some progress towards the region’s EU accession as a “collateral benefit” of the war in Ukraine. However, there is one issue that is of great concern for all those who desire to bring the Western Balkans closer to the EU: the ongoing conflict between Kosovo and Serbia - particularly concerning the Serbs of northern Kosovo.
A recent report by the International Institute for Middle Eastern and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) in Slovenia stated: “Over the past several years there was a noticeable absence of EU- mediated dialogue between official Belgrade and Pristina.” It added: “The responsibility does not rest just with the participants in the dialogue but also with the EU and the entire international community.” It is extremely sad and disappointing that this conflict is once again resurfacing while the EU remains unable to resolve it.
The history of Serbia’s domination of Kosovo still greatly impacts the present. In particular, the repressive policies of the Milosevic regime and Kosovo’s struggle for independence with NATO’s support have generated different and often antagonistic images in the minds of Kosovar Albanians and Serbs. It is too soon to expect a common evaluation or a mutual understanding of what happened in the 1990s, as this would demand a long-term strategy. However, there is no readiness yet to build the foundation for a future where all citizens and communities can live together peacefully. Reconciliation is not truly on the agenda for any of the parties involved. Even if I would strongly agree with those who assign the predominant blame to Kosovar Serbs, Kosovar Albanians must also take several steps to move towards a genuinely multiethnic society.
How to make integration work
There are two general approaches to creating the conditions for the fruitful cohabitation of different ethnic groups. One is to give all individual citizens the same rights and opportunities. This is certainly the clearest and most basic way to integrate all citizens into the structures of a given state and society, as it guarantees equal individual rights for all citizens. Citizens are treated equally irrespective of their religion or ethnicity and can take full advantage of their rights.
But in countries where groups that differ - by ethnicity, language, or religion - have competing narratives and/or historical perspectives, the concept of individual rights may not be sufficient. This is especially true if one group has close cultural links to a neighboring country that are guaranteed by special constitutional provisions. Indeed, nationalist links and biased constitutional arrangements can be conducive to separation, rather than integration, and this is particularly true if the leaders of the minority are less oriented to integration and more oriented to keeping close ties to other countries. However, denying autonomy or specific rights for a given minority does not necessarily help integration either.
Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti argues strongly for the individual citizen principle, but in doing so, he neglects Kosovo’s complex history. He views the country’s history entirely from the Albanian perspective - the side of the victims of Serbian aggression. This perspective is understandable, but to build a common state, a respect for the interests of all minorities groups is essential, even if those groups have in the past been part of a dominating or oppressive majority.
Needless to say, it would helpful if the representatives of that minority would learn from the past and acknowledge their own failures and crimes. Unfortunately, the leadership of Kosovo’s Serb community does not view the past in an open or constructive way. They do not understand that they too must take decisive steps towards reconciliation. On the contrary, they display no interest in integration into Kosovar society. The leadership’s destructive attitudes are often supported by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, and on occasion they even take advantage of him when trying to preserve and build their own parastate in northern Kosovo.
Collective rights as a part of integration
One way of granting the Serb community collective rights would be through the creation of a Community of Serb Municipalities, which was envisioned in the 2013 Brussels Agreement. One complicating factor for the implementation of the Agreement stemmed from the decision by Kosovo’s Constitutional Court that some details of the Agreement were unconstitutional. Kurti’s government took this decision as a justification not to fulfill the Brussels Agreement. However, one important step forward would be to adapt the Agreement to the objections of the Court rather than cancelling the creation of the Community of Serb Municipalities altogether.
The truth is that neither side has had any interest in implementing the Brussels Agreement in word or spirit or working to build a more inclusive Kosovo. The Serb leadership in northern Kosovo is not helpful in fostering the conditions for peaceful cohabitation, while the Kosovar government continues to insist on the principle of individual rights and reject collective rights, especially in the form of the Community of Serb Municipalities.
Ten years after the Brussels Agreement, it is time to fully implement its provisions and pave the way for a new chapter. Kosovo’s progress towards EU integration as well as domestic integration - including the creation of the Community of Serb Municipalities – must be embedded in a comprehensive policy of building new bridges between all parts of Kosovar society. Dealing openly with the past and looking for ways to approach Kosovo’s future inside the EU is the only viable way forward. Insisting on one’s own position instead of finding a compromise will not yield any results; there is no viable future for Kosovo without some community rights for Serbs.
The implementation of such rights can and should be accompanied by active policies for integration. Kosovar Serbs should not only learn about the glories of Serbian history, and Kosovar Albanians should not only learn about “their” history. This remains one of the largest unsolved issues in the region: education based on nationalist narratives and principles. Nationalist attitudes that impede political solutions are too often cultivated in the classroom. Ethnic and religious loyalties cannot be abolished overnight and must therefore be respected. However, they should also be embedded into a wider and critical view of historic events that leads to a common European future.
The EU must insist
The EU must insist on implementing the Brussels Agreement - even in an adapted form - ten years after its conclusion. In addition, it must actively implement a strategy of reconciliation between Kosovo’s different communities, between Kosovo and Serbia, and in the wider region. To speak about reconciliation in Ukraine today would be grotesque, although it too will have to be discussed someday. In the Western Balkans, however, it must remain high on the agenda - with Kosovo as a prime example.
Dr. Hannes Swoboda, President of the International Institute for Peace (IIP), started his career in urban politics in Vienna and was elected member of the European Parliament in 1996. He was Vice President of the Social Democrat Group until 2012 und then President until 2014. He was particularly engaged in foreign, enlargement, and neighborhood policies. Swoboda is also President of the Vienna Institute for International Economics, the Centre of Architecture, the University for Applied Science - Campus Vienna, and the Sir Peter Ustinov Institute.