“It will take Serbia decade to join EU”

BELGRADE U.S. expert for the Balkans Daniel Serwer told daily Vecernje novosti that Serbia would not join the EU in the next decade. “The normalization of relations with Pristina currently means an agreement on northern Kosovo. This will be enough to get a date (for the beginning of the EU accession talks) but Serbia will have to go further, to establish diplomatic relations with Kosovo and exchange ambassadors,” he stressed. “It will take Serbia decade to join EU” The Johns Hopkins University professor explained that EU member states that had recognized Kosovo would insist on diplomatic relations between Belgrade and Pristina even if the EU as a whole did not make such a request. “There will be many conditions in the following months and years. Kosovo will be a problem in many of 35 chapters in the negotiations unless a comprehensive solution is reached in the beginning of the process. You will have to fulfill many other criteria for the membership, harmonize laws with European ones. There is no one but several tickets for the EU. It will take you at least a decade,” the U.S. expert noted. Serwer said that a problem for Serbia was a fact that it was still open to “romantic ideas” about ties with Russia and the Non-Aligned Movement and that it did not give up on an idea of seeking sovereignty over the entire Kosovo, adding that such ideas had nothing to do with the future in the EU. “If you are under the impression that the process is only causing you pain, then maybe you are in the wrong process,” he was quoted as saying. Serwer even believes that Serbian ideas about the partition of Kosovo are “unrealistic attempts” because he does not see a chance for a new change of borders in the Balkans since it would not be acceptable to either to Europe or the U.S. He added that the documents on Kosovo, adopted by the Serbian government and parliament, were not acceptable for the world. “I do not believe that the platform is a step forward. It reiterates Serbia’s request for sovereignty over whole of Kosovo, suggesting a special self-government for Albanians that would become second-class citizens in Serbia. They will not accept this and nobody in Europe or the U.S. will ask them to. But let’s see what will happen in the talks between (Serbian PM Ivica) Dacic and (Kosovo PM Hashim) Thaci. This is more important than what is written in the platform,” Serwer stressed. He added that he still believed that the Ahtisaari plan was the best solution and that he did not see why Serbia would not accept it. “This has already been accepted in Pristina, Washington and Brussels and they expect further agreements that will lead to further implementation of the Ahtisaari plan,” the U.S. analyst concluded. Daniel Serwer (Radio Free Europe, file) Vecernje novosti

“It will take Serbia decade to join EU”

The Johns Hopkins University professor explained that EU member states that had recognized Kosovo would insist on diplomatic relations between Belgrade and Priština even if the EU as a whole did not make such a request.

“There will be many conditions in the following months and years. Kosovo will be a problem in many of 35 chapters in the negotiations unless a comprehensive solution is reached in the beginning of the process. You will have to fulfill many other criteria for the membership, harmonize laws with European ones. There is no one but several tickets for the EU. It will take you at least a decade,” the U.S. expert noted.

Serwer said that a problem for Serbia was a fact that it was still open to “romantic ideas” about ties with Russia and the Non-Aligned Movement and that it did not give up on an idea of seeking sovereignty over the entire Kosovo, adding that such ideas had nothing to do with the future in the EU.

“If you are under the impression that the process is only causing you pain, then maybe you are in the wrong process,” he was quoted as saying.

Serwer even believes that Serbian ideas about the partition of Kosovo are “unrealistic attempts” because he does not see a chance for a new change of borders in the Balkans since it would not be acceptable to either to Europe or the U.S.

He added that the documents on Kosovo, adopted by the Serbian government and parliament, were not acceptable for the world.

“I do not believe that the platform is a step forward. It reiterates Serbia’s request for sovereignty over whole of Kosovo, suggesting a special self-government for Albanians that would become second-class citizens in Serbia. They will not accept this and nobody in Europe or the U.S. will ask them to. But let’s see what will happen in the talks between (Serbian PM Ivica) Dačić and (Kosovo PM Hashim) Thaci. This is more important than what is written in the platform,” Serwer stressed.

He added that he still believed that the Ahtisaari plan was the best solution and that he did not see why Serbia would not accept it.

“This has already been accepted in Priština, Washington and Brussels and they expect further agreements that will lead to further implementation of the Ahtisaari plan,” the U.S. analyst concluded.