Known as the Washington Agreement, it was reached on September 4, 2020 and contains several points – from the creation of air and railway lines between Kosovo and Serbia to the recognition of Kosovo by Israel
The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, will begin his new term in January 2025. In September of that year, it will be five years since Trump, who served as president from 2017 to 2021 , participated in the signing of the Agreement for the normalization of economic relations between Kosovo and Serbia. Known as the Washington Agreement, it was reached on September 4, 2020 and contains several points – from the creation of air and railway lines between Kosovo and Serbia to the recognition of Kosovo by Israel.
Until the latter is fulfilled, many other points remain unimplemented. Former officials of the institutions of Kosovo who have contributed to the achievement of this agreement, but also experts in the economy say that it is beneficial and should be implemented. Among the most important points for citizens of both countries, they value those related to free movement – namely rail and airline – but which have not been implemented.
RAILWAYS AND AIRLINES
The Washington Agreement envisages the construction of the Pristina-Merdare and Nis-Prishtina railways. It also envisioned the creation of an airline between Pristina and Belgrade and vice versa, in which the German airline, Lufthansa, would operate. Radio Free Europe asked the Government of Kosovo why no work has been done on the implementation of these points and whether it is expected, but did not receive an answer. The agreement, in fact, was signed by former Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti, just a few months before the current Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, took power. Not even Hoti responded to Radio Free Europe’s interest in this topic.
TRUMP ON THE WASHINGTON AGREEMENT
On the day of signing the agreement, the then American president, Donald Trump, said that this is “a very important and historic day”. After the history of violence and failed negotiations, Trump said, his administration has made “great progress” in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia and “no one thought this would be possible”. “It took courage extraordinary by the president of Serbia, Vucic, and the prime minister of Kosovo, Hoti, to start these talks and to come to Washington to complete these commitments. In doing so, they have made their countries, the Balkans and safer world”, said Trump.
Ramë Çupeva, who participated in the signing of the agreement for the railway in the capacity of the then director of the Department of Road Infrastructure, says that the agreement “is among the best” that Kosovo has made with Serbia. He says he supports it “without reservation”. “Its implementation is up to the Government. But, after the change of governments, no one has made an effort to move it forward”, says Çupeva for Radio Free Europe. REL contacted current officials at the Department of Road Infrastructure, which operates under the Ministry of Infrastructure, but they did not respond.
Infrakos – the company that operates the Kosovo railway network – confirmed that they have not started any work on the Pristina – Merdare railway.
“We, as Infrakos, are ready to take our actions whenever the agreement for the implementation [of the project] is practically reached,” says the response sent to REL. A similar situation is with the planned air line between Pristina and Belgrade and vice versa. More than four years after the signing of the Washington Agreement, no aircraft flies between the two countries. The Lufthansa company, expected to operate on this line, did not respond to Radio Free Europe’s question about where the process stalled. The Civil Aviation Authority of Kosovo says in a brief response to REL that “so far, it has not received any request from the airline in question to start flights on the Pristina – Belgrade route”. (RFE)
