Mitic: Model for Community of Serb Municipalities based on Eastern Belgium is not acceptable for Serbia

Photo: ZSO, Promo

The model "Eastern Belgium" - which is mentioned as a model for the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) that will be brought to Belgrade and Pristina by Gabriel Escobar and Miroslav Lajcak, is unacceptable for Belgrade, like any other model, except the one agreed in the Brussels Agreement, believes Aleksandar Mitic, a research associate at the Institute of International Politics and Economics.

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Mitic says what it is especially problematic is that initiative of the US and the EU, contains intention to legalize the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo through a different view of the ZSO. He also notes that the very moment of the arrival of Escobar and Lajcak is problematic - before the election campaign in Serbia.

"In a way, there is a danger that one of their interests is to influence certain political actors in Serbia and to some extent influence the talks about the ZSO by somehow including the storybout the permission, i.e. enabling Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija being able to vote in the parliamentary elections. That is very dangerous;" he says.

Mitic stressed that Belgrade should adhere to the agreement from Brussels, although he, as he says, it is "problematic in itself" because it envisaged that Belgrade would withdraw its institutions from Kosovo and Metohija, and that in return a ZSO with executive powers would be formed.

"Even with ZSO such as it was, the Brussels agreement was quite controversial, and without those powers it is absolutely unacceptable," said Mitic.

He wondered if this was another way to indulge the Albanians and Albin Kurti, even after all the unilateral moves they have made in the last year alone, citing taxes and the inability of Serbs to vote in a referendum.

Speaking about the "East Belgium" model, Mitic states that it is not known whether this is the proposal that Escobar and Lajcak will present, and the second point that is that it is not known is which elements of the "East Belgium" model they envisage to apply. Mitic explains that the "East Belgium" model concerns the cultural autonomy of the German community in Belgium, which consists of about 76,000 Germans in a country with about 11 million inhabitants.

"There are more Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, and Kosovo and Metohija has 10 times less population than Belgium. So it's incomparable. Also, Belgium is a country where decisions are made by some kind of consensus between the Flemings in the north and the Walloons in the south. They are the main actors, and the German community does not have a large share in decision-making. And that is absolutely incomparable with the significance and influence that the Serbi community should have on Kosovo and Metohija - Mitic stressed.

He also points out that the security of the German community in Belgium and the Serb community in Kosovo and Metohija is incomparable, adding that the formation of the ZSO was an idea to provide Serbs with protection that the Germans in Belgium do not need.

Mitic stressed that because of all that, that model, like any other model, is unacceptable for Serbia, and adds that what has been agreed should be implemented. He warns that, as before, there will be attempts to transform the ZSO in various ways into a kind of non-governmental organization or a model that would be acceptable to Albanians.

Asked whether the arrival of Escobar and Lajcak would "unlock" the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Mitic said it would be difficult, given the fact that Albanians refuse to make any compromise on even the smallest technical issues. He points out that the real question in now is how the Americans "got involved" in those negotiations again, considering that the Americans were not allowed to engage in dialogue in any way before, and that the Brussels agreement was agreed with the mediation of the EU.

Mitic stressed that Lajcak is obviously in a hurry, because he has not made any progress since he was appointed EU special envoy for the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. This indicates that the EU does not have an instrument and influence on Kosovo Albanians, adds Mitic.

On the other hand, he notes that the administration of US President Joe Biden has consolidated and started a "more offensive action, and that after the debacle in Afghanistan, Washington needs a foreign policy success.

He assessed that because of that, the United States will continue to "push the story" around the Western Balkans, not only around Kosovo and Metohija, but also around Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"I understand their attempt to things speed up, to use the electoral context here and the international context, but I don't see the need for Belgrade to be involved in any way in a faster negotiation process," Mitic concluded.

(Telegraf.rs)