Macron's and Scholz's despair over Serbia; "They could suspend Serbia's EU accession"

Macron's and Scholz's despair over Serbia; "They could suspend Serbia's EU accession"

The appointment of new negotiators for Belgrade and Pristina sent by Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz is a sign of desperation on the part of Paris and Berlin, according to Timothy Less.

This professor of the Center for Geopolitics of Cambridge University tells Blic that diplomats Jens Plettner and Emanuel Bonn, who will visit Belgrade and Pristina on Friday, will bring more pressure and persuasion in the hope that Serbia will give in on the Kosovo issue this time.

Plettner and Bonn arrive to visit the Balkans, in order to start the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina from a "dead point", and Less predicts weak progress after their engagement.

"In case of 'disobedience', they could threaten Serbia with the suspension of EU membership, and as a reward, an offer of accelerated membership. To be honest, I don't see that they bring much to the table, except for the political authority of France and Germany," Less believes.

He says that it is clear that Germany and France are frustrated by the lack of progress in solving Kosovo and that they are worried about tensions in the north. "Consequently, they feel that they have to do something to find a way out of the impasse. However, I do not see any serious initiative in action, with some new proposals. This is really just a symbolic meeting," Less believes.

He also assesses that there is little room for new ideas, which would lead to the situation that France and Germany want. "It is unlikely that there will be anything new, because everything has already been put on the table over the years with the exception of border changes, which Germany ruled out. It is possible that France and Germany will threaten to suspend Serbia's membership in the EU, as Germany just did in Bosnia. However, if they do, it will be an empty threat," says Less.

He claims that the EU cannot afford to lose Serbia to Russia and that it cannot prolong the integration process "which has already died." "In short, I don't see new topics, only more pressure and persuasion in the hope that Serbia will now give in," Less concluded.