Are Belgrade’s local elections an end in itself: A view towards the dynamic plan in extending/diminishing hopes for an Ahtisaari-based authority in the northern Kosovo 9 pages, pdf  Download Back

ARE BELGRADE’S LOCAL ELECTIONS AN END IN ITSELF:
A view towards the dynamic plan in extending/diminishing hopes
for an Ahtisaari-based authority in the northern Kosovo
Policy Note No. 02/2012

Publisher: Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS), Kosovo

Date: March 2012

Volume: 9 pages, pdf


Description

Many trusted that the EU enlargement leverage upon Serbia would finally ‘normalize’ the situation in the northern Kosovo, with Serbia assenting that it remove its active position in the northern Kosovo and allow for the situation to be managed under an EU instruction. With the strong words of Chancellor Merkel that Serbia must remove its structures from the northern Kosovo and the EU’s award of the candidate status to Serbia, the reasonable expectation was that Belgrade would smoothly reduce and refrain from being institutionally the manager of the situation in the northern Kosovo. A key point to test this ‘reasonable expectation’ was to observe whether Serbia will announce local elections in the northern Kosovo, bearing in mind that those elections would be legally in contrast to the UNSC 1244 and fully in opposition to the EU’s expectations from Serbia. Therefore, a key question here is whether announcing and organizing local elections in the northern Kosovo would endanger the entire concept of Dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, the Serbia’s EU integration, and more importantly, whether the elections would impact the position of the Serbians in Kosovo. To that purpose, this Policy Note, examines the political implications that the Serbian local elections in the northern Kosovo would draw in the relationship between Kosovo and Serbia, the EU and more particularly, in the domestic affairs in both countries.