For more than half a year there has been talk in the EU about the lifting of measures against Kosovo. But they have not been removed, neither gradually nor completely, nor will they be removed before the elections in Kosovo. Because some EU countries do not want them removed and only use the procedures to postpone them. These measures, according to many EU diplomats, have gone far beyond what was agreed in June 2023 when they were put in place. And they are not transparent, the legal basis for their holding is not clear, and they did not believe that they would also include projects related to the rule of law, justice reforms, drinking water and assistance to persons with disabilities. So they were not “limited” measures. At least at the end of the week we heard that even the prime minister of Albania, Edi Rama, wants their removal. This would mean that Albania, which was among the first to support the measures and imposed them on Kosovo, has now removed them
By Augustin PALOKAJ
In the last few weeks, in many discussions dedicated to the process of expansion in the working groups of the EU Council, where the talks between the member countries are held, more has been discussed than was expected about the measures against Kosovo and their removal. As a compromise, it was left to say in the conclusions that “the Council will remove the measures gradually, in parallel with the steps that Kosovo will take for de-escalation in the north”. But at the end of the discussions, the phrase “The Council will lift the measures” was replaced with “The EU will lift the measures”. And this means a lot. Because the Council has never made a formal decision to impose measures against Kosovo, although it had a role. Therefore, if he has not decided to impose the measures, he cannot even decide to remove them. And, in order not to make a mistake in the procedure, the designation “EU” was used, which is more comprehensive than “Council”.
The vast majority of EU member states want the measures to be lifted immediately and completely. Because they think that they no longer make sense, they are not balanced since there are no measures against Serbia, and finally, even the high representative of the EU as early as June gave the recommendation that they be removed, as he assessed that Kosovo has meet the criteria for their removal.
The measures were decided when the European Union, in cooperation and cooperation with the United States of America and the Republic of Albania, had decided to punish Kosovo because they had assessed that it had acted “unilaterally and uncoordinated” by sending the mayors of the municipalities to north in the municipal buildings. The United States of America had ended a military exercise in which Kosovo also participated, while Albania had canceled a joint intergovernmental meeting with Kosovo. It was learned from many EU sources that Albania’s actions were coordinated with the EU and were intended to increase the international and regional isolation of Kosovo’s political leadership. The EU believed that when the USA and Albania align themselves with measures towards Kosovo, then Prishtina will understand the reality of the situation sooner.
But while the measures from Albania’s side did not seem to be formal, therefore their fate and status was not known today, the American ones do not seem to be implemented anymore, the EU ones are in force and have serious consequences for Kosovo.
The EU imposed these sanctions at a speed unprecedented until then, with extremely fast procedures, and they continue to remain unique to a country in the Western Balkans region.
The idea for the measures towards Kosovo was first presented by the special envoy for dialogue Miroslav Lajçak who also received the support of his boss Josep Borrell. They had shared this idea first with several member countries, and then it was elaborated in cooperation with the former head of the EU Office in Kosovo Tomas Sonyong and the general director in the General Directorate for enlargement and neighborhood Jan Koopman. The measures were carefully designed that could be decided by the European Commission and the High Representative, without the need for them to be formally decided in the EU Council, where all member countries would have to vote in favor. These measures were also explained to the members of the European Parliament. But at no time has the Council of the EU voted specifically for the imposition of measures against Kosovo. Nor has there been any usual formal notification from the EU of any such decision.
On June 3, 2023, the EU member states agreed that the then High Representative, Borrell, should issue a communique on behalf of the 27 member states about the escalation of the situation in the north of Kosovo. In that statement, among other things, it was said that the EU “is ready to implement strict measures”, warning that there will be negative consequences in case of failure.
“We invite both Kosovo and Serbia to immediately and unconditionally take measures to de-escalate the situation, stop divisive rhetoric and refrain from any other uncoordinated actions. Calm must be restored urgently. The European Union is ready to implement strict measures. “Failure to de-escalate tensions will lead to negative consequences,” the statement said.
In this communication, mainly the EU addressed Kosovo with requests. “We expect Kosovo to act in a non-escalating manner and immediately suspend police operations in the vicinity of municipal buildings in the north of Kosovo. Mayors of municipalities must temporarily exercise their duties in facilities that are not municipal buildings. Extraordinary elections should be announced as soon as possible in all four municipalities and organized in a fully inclusive manner. We expect that the Serbs of Kosovo will participate in them”, it is stated in this communique.
As for Serbia, the EU “expresses concern about the deployment of the armed forces of Serbia in the highest state of readiness”.
So according to her, preliminary support for measures was given to both Kosovo and Serbia, in case it is considered that one of them has not done enough to reduce tensions. But in the case of Kosovo, measures were imposed without the need for other support from member countries. And when measures were requested against Serbia, it was said that “it depends on the member countries”.
The first information that Lajçak and Koopman had prepared the measures was leaked on June 13. Koha Ditore for the first time wrote on this date that they have been prepared those. And that they had been presented to the member countries in the Political and Security Committee. There was talk at that time about the suspension of invitations for high-level meetings and bilateral visits, with the exception of those that focus on addressing the crisis in northern Kosovo. The second sanction would be the suspension of the work of the Kosovo-EU joint groups created within the Association Stabilization Agreement. The third sanction against Kosovo was the suspension of substantial EU funding, starting with the suspension, approval and implementation of Kosovo’s proposals in the last round of the Western Balkans Investment Fund. And the fourth sanction that Lajçak and Koopman had talked about was the reduction of the level of presence in public events related to EU financial cooperation, where members of the Government of Kosovo are included.
The order for Kosovo and Serbia to immediately take steps to reduce tensions in the north of Kosovo was repeated on June 27 by the High Representative of the EU for foreign policy and security, Josep Borell, and the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama. Speaking to journalists, Borrell and Rama said that tensions between Kosovo and Serbia should not be allowed to endanger the entire region of the Western Balkans.
“I thank you Mr. prime minister, dear Edi, for trying to find a solution. I made it clear that the parties should de-escalate the situation and find a way out based on EU proposals. The solution calls for swift action and member states agree. The member countries are losing patience and demand immediate actions,” said Borrell, thanking Prime Minister Rama for his stance.
That same day, in a debate in the European Parliament’s Foreign Policy Committee, Lajcak and Koopman had justified the measures they had prepared for Kosovo, although they had been harshly criticized by many MPs for being harsh towards Kosovo and not towards Serbia. The following day, the measures were communicated to the Government of Kosovo, but neither party, neither the EU nor Kosovo, had made them public. Koha Ditore had learned about it later. The sanctions against Kosovo that the dialogue facilitators had first proposed had already entered into force.
Kosovo had started taking some steps believing that in this way it will affect the lifting of the measures. On July 14, 2023, the EU, through its spokesperson, said that Kosovo is taking the “right steps”, but it must take a few more steps in order to remove the measures.
“This includes immediately reducing the police presence in and around municipal buildings, conducting regular joint security assessments with EULEX and KFOR as necessary, considering the possibility of further reducing the presence, not no move that could escalate the situation and encourage emergency elections as well creating the legal basis for this”, said this EU spokesperson. Calls for measures to be imposed on Serbia and for Kosovo to be removed came especially after the attacks in Banjska in September 2023, which Borrell also called “terrorist attacks”. But neither the European Commission nor the External Action Service (EEAS) led by Borrell wanted the measures to be imposed on Serbia. This time they said that “the member countries should decide on this”.
Thus, all the time, both the EEAS and the European Commission call on the “member countries” when the measures against Kosovo should be removed or when they should be imposed on Serbia.
For more than half a year there has been talk in the EU about the lifting of measures against Kosovo. But they have not been removed, neither gradually nor completely, nor will they be removed before the elections in Kosovo. Because some EU countries, led by France and Italy, do not want them to be removed and only use the procedures to postpone their removal. These measures, according to many EU diplomats, have gone far beyond what was agreed in June 2023 when they were put in place. And they are not transparent, the legal basis for their holding is not clear, and they did not believe that they would also include projects related to the rule of law, justice reforms, drinking water and assistance to persons with disabilities. So they were not “limited” measures. At least at the end of the week we heard that even the prime minister of Albania, Edi Rama, is asking for their removal. This should mean that Albania, which was among the first to support the measures and imposed them on Kosovo, has now removed them.
Even the current wording, where the EU states that it will “remove the measures”, is conditioned by the words “gradually” and “parallelly”. They remain unfair, unclear, non-transparent and unlimited. This gives space to member countries to delay their removal as long as they want, keeping Kosovo as the only country from the sanctioned and isolated region, as well.
