At their plenary session on Tuesday 3 October, MEPs debated the situation between Serbia and Kosovo after a Kosovar policeman was killed on 24 September by a group of Serbian gunmen in the north of the country (see EUROPE 13257/21). A large number of MEPs have called for a tougher stance on Belgrade and are concerned about Russian influence in the region.
“There is an agreement between the two countries, but no progress has been made. There are restrictive measures against Kosovo and perhaps we should apply the same to Serbia, in view of recent events. We must be consistent in our policies, and we cannot have such different approaches depending on which Member State is taking the decisions”, said Tonino Picula (S&D, Croatian).
“This incident shows us very clearly that the damage done by the nationalist and hateful rhetoric originated by Aleksandar Vučić is enormous. With the participation of Serbian armed forces in the attacks, we have come very close to a new conflict in the Balkans”, added Thomas Waitz (Greens/EFA, Austrian).
The Austrian MEP called for an international board of inquiry into Mr Vučić’s role and - pending its findings - for the suspension of funds from the EU’s instrument for pre-accession assistance.
For other MEPs, like Andrey Kovatchev (EPP, Bulgaria), the most important thing is to avoid “any new provocation” that could be used by Russia - whose influence is growing in Serbia - to destabilise the region. To achieve this, the Bulgarian MEP believes that the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) should be strengthened (see EUROPE 13261/22). In addition, peace negotiations should be conducted with a view to achieving “full and complete” recognition of Kosovo by Serbia.
“Serbia has to choose and side with either the EU or Russia. We need a very clear signal. Serbia’s influence and its anti-European agenda is very dangerous”, he concluded.
New call for de-escalation
For other MEPs, the European Commission is not above reproach either. “The dramatic events have confirmed what I said back in May: Serbia is the main destabilising factor in Kosovo and [High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs] Josep Borrell made a mistake by not saying so clearly”, said Ladislav Ilčić (ECR, Croatian).
Most of the political groups called for de-escalation to contain tensions (see EUROPE 13230/19) in order to relaunch dialogue between the two parties and achieve the implementation of the Ohrid agreements (see EUROPE 13164/31) on the normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti last met on 14 September in Brussels (see EUROPE 13251/4). No progress was made, with the approaches of Belgrade and Pristina remaining far apart.
Greens/EFA MEP Thomas Waitz used the debate to call on the EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, Miroslav Lajčák, to “reflect on his own role and possibly step down” in the absence of progress. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)