Vucic sets new conditions for normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has announced new requirements for normalising relations with partially recognised Kosovo, as well as the introduction of a special status for the Serbian population living there. It was reported by Danas.

The Serbian president said that for him and all Serbs, “Kosovo and Metohija remain the most painful point,” using the denomination for Kosovo as used by official Belgrade.

He stated that Serbs have not found a satisfactory solution to the “Kosovo problem” in recent years, and the situation will only worsen “because elections are coming.”

The Serbian president went on to list the measures that he believes should be taken to return “to everything that was achieved and gained in the process of dialogue” to normalise relations.

He named the holding of free and democratic elections in northern Kosovo “with the participation of the OSCE mission and under the control of the EU” and the formation of a regional government in which the police force will be staffed by Serbs.

Vucic named the third demand as the return of Serbian judges and prosecutors to perform judicial functions in northern Kosovo, the withdrawal of Kosovo police special forces from illegally constructed bases, and the withdrawal from all institutions in northern Kosovo. The fifth demand is the urgent, immediate, and final formation of the Association of Serbian Municipalities.

The next demand, according to the Serbian president, is the immediate release of all “political prisoners” in Kosovo. He also spoke about the resumption of banking and postal services provided by Belgrade to Kosovo Serbs.

Vucic announced that he would hold talks with dozens of world leaders and convey these demands to them, as well as send letters to Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping.

Finally, the Serbian president announced the adoption of a law that would declare northern Kosovo a “zone of special social protection” that would “guarantee the right to financial support for the unemployed” and provide for investigations of those who “expel Serbs” from Kosovo.

Vucic’s statement came against the backdrop of further escalation between Belgrade and Pristina, as well as the failure of mediators—the European Union and the United States—to normalise relations between them.

Last month, among other things, Kosovo police carried out an operation in which they closed down Serbian institutions in northern Kosovo and confiscated documents found in them.

Although there was no significant reaction from the Serbian government or president, Vucic announced an “important” address, and Serbian tabloids reported that he was allegedly planning to announce “Kosovo’s occupation of a part of Serbian territory.”