The “early” visit to Kosovo of the European Union special envoy for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, took place before the results of the February 14 elections were certified and the government formed. Lajcak held the first meeting with the leader of the Vetevendosje, Albin Kurti, who convincingly won the February 14 elections. The far-left LVV party and its leader Albin Kurti, shortly after winning the February 14 elections, had stated that dialogue with Serbia was not even in the top seven priorities for his next government. Immediately after these statements followed a visit of the US Ambassador to Kosovo, Philip Kosnett, who reminded Kurti that dialogue with Serbia should be a priority for Kosovo.
This caused a stir in public and media opinion, as it is known that the dialogue with Serbia is one of the conditions that Kosovo must meet in exchange for visa liberalization and is also a criterion set by the US in the agreement of September last year in Washington, signed by Kosovo’s Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
Setting priorities seems to have been the reason for Lajcak’s “early” visit to Kosovo, who after the meeting with Kurti did not declare himself to the media at all. Meanwhile, Kurti after this meeting stated that dialogue cannot be set as the first or second priority, now! Which leaves room to understand that Kurti has already shifted the dialogue to the top three priorities. Kurti has used the issue of dialogue with Serbia during the campaign in the last elections, for internal consumption, considering it as an irrelevant topic for his next government.
Lajcak also met the acting president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani to give the message of the European Union about the importance of dialogue with Serbia. Lajcak’s visit to Kosovo is another attempt to re-energize the issue of dialogue, which was suspended at the end of last year due to the dissolution of parliament and new elections in Kosovo.
It is known that Lajcak has not been neutral in mediating the dialogue process and he has proved this with a recent post on Twitter where in the background in his office he placed the map of the Western Balkans, in which Kosovo is part of Serbia and the border between two countries is only administratively divided. This had caused reactions from Pristina as well.
The process of Kosovo’s dialogue with Serbia is a very complex process for which a political unity must be created in Kosovo, which would clarify Kosovo’s position alongside the dialogue. In the dialogue with Serbia, small technical issues should not be discussed, which have been discussed for ten years now, such as the issue of curricula, vehicle license plates, and other issues that are already part of European standards. For Kosovo, the importance of dialogue should be oriented to the negotiated topics and not to the persons who negotiate those topics.
The dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia as a technical process started in Brussels in 2011. At that time the dialogue was necessary due to UN Resolution 1244 for Kosovo, after the decision of the International Court of Justice which legitimized the Independence of Kosovo. The UN has been strongly committed to the independence of Kosovo, due to the role of Russia and China, but not only these two.
In the initial or technical phase, the dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo was mediated by US diplomat Robert Cooper, followed by Katherine Ashton and Frederica Mogherini, both have held the post of High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, while also dealing with the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. Joseph Borrel is currently in the same position but has chosen to have a special representative on the issue, in this case Slovak diplomat Miroslav Lajcak.
Another wrong step of Kurti in the geopolitical strategy is the question whether the Kosovo embassy will be located in Jerusalem or not. This hesitance came after calls from Turkish President Erdogan to do so. Kurti replied the letter to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who invited him to visit Israel days ago, even inviting him to open an embassy in Jerusalem. In Kurti’s published letter, he says he will visit Israel at a time convenient for both sides, but did not mentioned the opening of an embassy in Jerusalem.
In addition to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Kurti also wrote a letter of thanks to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his approach to the February 14 elections. Among other things, Kurti said that Turkey’s role in Kosovo is important and that Turkey will have such a role in the future, and that he is very grateful for Turkey’s support to Kosovo.
The Cause for National Unity is Kurti’s other geopolitical mistake he has used since the founding of the Self-Determination Movement. In reality, LVV was created on the basis of the ideology for union with Albania, but recently during a visit to Albania, Kurti stated that the unification of the two countries is impossible due to Article 1.3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo which prohibits such a thing. The Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo has existed since the declaration of its independence in 2008. Such statements by Kurti regarding the union with Albania are being seen as a new tactic to slowly give up the empty promises that have idealized Kurti. The candidate for prime minister from the ranks of the Vetëvendosje, Albin Kurti, from the beginning of his active involvement in politics, had proclaimed the union with Albania as one of his main causes.
