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KEEPING COMMITMENTS TO NORMALIZATION

The optimism after the Ohrid Agreement at the beginning of this year was short-lived, as it soon became clear that the EU and the US would have to apply more sticks and carrots to secure its implementation. The escalation of the security situation in Kosovo’s north with heavy presence of the Kosovo Police, Serbs leaving the institutions, and boycott of the elections by the Serb List all put breaks on the implementation of the agreement. Though initially the September 24^th Banjska incident seemed to have put a nail in the coffin of the normalization, it has renewed the focus and the outside pressure. The EU is pushing the draft proposal for the Statute of the Serb Majority Municipalities (ASM), which is currently being discussed between the negotiators. If the draft is accepted (in the original form or slightly modified), the West will have a clear path to push for additional steps in implementing other elements and the actual start of the normalization process.

 

To address these issues, the Council for Inclusive Governance (CIG) in cooperation with the Belgrade Office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) organized on November 5, 2023, in Belgrade, Serbia, a workshop for experts and CSO and media representatives from Serbia and Kosovo. The report from the workshop is available below.