Source: FoNet/EBSAlthough the Serbs in Kosovo received almost nothing from the Brussels Agreement, the government in Serbia led by Aleksandar Vučić did. The biggest reward was the international validation that Vučić is not the "old" one, but that he is a progressive European politician
From brilliance to despair - this is how the fate of the Brussels Agreement signed ten years ago can be briefly described. Although the then Kosovo officials and the same ones in Serbia promised that the agreement would lead to a "new era - an era of reconciliation", almost nothing remained of the agreement that was supposed to be the basis for the normalization of relations. The responsibility for the ten years spent mainly in tensions and worsening of relations is still not borne by anyone.
Exactly ten years ago in Brussels, the former Prime Ministers of Serbia and Kosovo, Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaci, signed the "First Agreement on Principles Governing the Normalization of Relations", popularly known as the Brussels Agreement.
Nor normalization, nor European integration
Although Dacic, in the company of Aleksandar Vucic, and Thaci "swore" to the then High Representative of the EU Catherine Ashton to normalize relations and progress on the road to the EU, after ten years there is no normalization, nor European integration.
Although not all previous anniversaries of the agreement were happy, with which both Serbs and Albanians are dissatisfied. In the first decade, everything that was supposed to be the legacy of this agreement was destroyed.
Round dates are always a good opportunity to draw a line and look at what has been done so far. In case Brussels agreement of 15 points it's not that demanding.
Of those 15, seven were implemented, two partially.
These implemented provisions were mostly Belgrade's homework. They included the integration of the police and judiciary in the north into the Kosovo legal system, the holding of local elections in the north according to Kosovo regulations, issues related to telecommunications.
The biggest stumbling block
The biggest stumbling block remained the six provisions concerning the backbone of the agreement - the Union of Serbian Municipalities (ZSO). After ten years, the new authorities in Pristina led by Aljbin Kurti refuse to form "Serbian municipalities", under the argument that they do not want a new Republika Srpska on the territory of Kosovo.
Thus, instead of the Serbs already being largely integrated into the unified system, they left all institutions in November. In addition, the Serbs in the north are a coin for the political subterfuges of both Belgrade and Pristina.
One version of the ZSO Statute was prepared by the Management Team, with the approval of the EU and based on the ZSO agreement from 2015, it was never presented to the public, and all deadlines for the formation of the ZSO have largely expired.
Dialogue without dialogue
After constant crises in the dialogue that resembled anything but dialogue during the previous two years, Belgrade and Pristina accepted the European proposal and the Annex of its implementation.
The "threats" of Serbian officials that they will not agree to anything until Pristina fulfills its part of the work fell flat.
There is still no tangible progress in the implementation of the ZSO, and the Serbian president and the Kosovo prime minister will meet on May 2 in Brussels, where the topic will be European.
During that time, Serbs from the north are still outside the institutions, and their return is not even on the negotiation table.
Although the Serbs in Kosovo received almost nothing from the Brussels Agreement, the government in Serbia led by Aleksandar Vučić did.
The biggest reward for signing the Brussels Agreement was the definitive international validation that Aleksandar Vučić is not the "old" one, but a progressive European politician who can solve the Kosovo knot. It still survives today on the basis of that acquired trust.
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A black picture and the breakdown of the rule of law subscribeThe archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
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On Monday, April 22, 2013, the Government of Serbia unanimously agreed to sign the Agreement on the main principles of normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina. The Prime Minister at the time, Ivica Dacic, informed the Head of EU Diplomacy, Catherine Ashton, that the Government had accepted the agreement. The SPC issued an indignant statement about "pure surrender", about 20.000 Serbs protested in Kosovo Mitrovica. What exactly did Belgrade and Pristina commit to in 15 points in the "Brussels Agreement".
