Compromise on draft would include changes

If Belgrade and Brussels agree on changes to the Kosovo draft resolution, the text submitted to the UN General Assembly would be altered. This is according to an article in Belgrade daily Politika today. Compromise on draft would include changes It is still not known what country would be submitting the amendments to the resolution, and it is not even known what the changes could be, the newspaper writes. Politika’s source said that talks about the amendment’s content have not begun yet and that there are ongoing consultations with EU officials currently. Once it is seen that a compromise would be possible—“a solution acceptable to both sides, which would protect the interests of both sides,”—a Serbian delegation would travel to Brussels to work on amendments with EU officials, the source from the Serbian government said. The source added that Tuesday’s visit by British Foreign Minister William Hague was not a new form of pressure on Belgrade, that the visit was planned earlier, and that the resolution and Kosovo were not really direct reasons behind the visit. In Britain, the visit is described as increased pressure on Serbia to "close the issue of Kosovo and accept Kosovo's independence". British analyst Mark Almond told the BBC that Britain and Germany want the same conditions to be set for all countries of the Western Balkans, and one of the key conditions for entering the EU, the one dropped in the case of Cyprus, is to have no border issues. In Serbia, political analyst Ognjen Pribicevic, however, believes that the resolution is the direct reason for Hague’s visit. He said that it is clear that Serbia has shown a desire to reach a compromise, but it is yet to be seen whether a compromise would be possible at all. Pribicevic believes that it is just as important for the EU as it is for Serbia to reach a compromise. “The constant pressure on Serbia shows how important the General Assembly is. Other than this, the question of secession is something that is of universal importance which crosses the borders of Southeastern Europe and the EU,” analyst Djuro Kovacevic said. He added that the future authority of the UN, undermined in the past years, would depend on this question. “If someone believes that they can base global order with their own interests outside of the UN system, regardless of how powerful they are, the authority of the UN would be in question. This (Kosovo) is one of the issues through which there would be an effort to restore the authority of the UN. And there are a lot more those interested in that, than those who oppose it,” Kovacevic said. Pribicevic thinks that the EU’s ability to conduct its own foreign policy is also being tested. “It is very important for the EU to reach a compromise on the resolution, because Kosovo is the last big open political question in Europe and a question that divides the EU. Since Serbia is a country striving to become an EU member-state, the EU has a special reason to show, to the Americans firstly, that it is able to lead its own foreign policy,” Pribicevic said, adding that "even America wants to hand the Kosovo issue over to the EU, so that it could try and reach a compromise solution".

Compromise on draft would include changes

It is still not known what country would be submitting the amendments to the resolution, and it is not even known what the changes could be, the newspaper writes.

Politika’s source said that talks about the amendment’s content have not begun yet and that there are ongoing consultations with EU officials currently.

Once it is seen that a compromise would be possible—“a solution acceptable to both sides, which would protect the interests of both sides,”—a Serbian delegation would travel to Brussels to work on amendments with EU officials, the source from the Serbian government said.

The source added that Tuesday’s visit by British Foreign Minister William Hague was not a new form of pressure on Belgrade, that the visit was planned earlier, and that the resolution and Kosovo were not really direct reasons behind the visit.

In Britain, the visit is described as increased pressure on Serbia to "close the issue of Kosovo and accept Kosovo's independence".

British analyst Mark Almond told the BBC that Britain and Germany want the same conditions to be set for all countries of the Western Balkans, and one of the key conditions for entering the EU, the one dropped in the case of Cyprus, is to have no border issues.

In Serbia, political analyst Ognjen Pribićević, however, believes that the resolution is the direct reason for Hague’s visit.

He said that it is clear that Serbia has shown a desire to reach a compromise, but it is yet to be seen whether a compromise would be possible at all.

Pribićević believes that it is just as important for the EU as it is for Serbia to reach a compromise.

“The constant pressure on Serbia shows how important the General Assembly is. Other than this, the question of secession is something that is of universal importance which crosses the borders of Southeastern Europe and the EU,” analyst Đuro Kovačević said.

He added that the future authority of the UN, undermined in the past years, would depend on this question.

“If someone believes that they can base global order with their own interests outside of the UN system, regardless of how powerful they are, the authority of the UN would be in question. This (Kosovo) is one of the issues through which there would be an effort to restore the authority of the UN. And there are a lot more those interested in that, than those who oppose it,” Kovačević said.

Pribićević thinks that the EU’s ability to conduct its own foreign policy is also being tested.

“It is very important for the EU to reach a compromise on the resolution, because Kosovo is the last big open political question in Europe and a question that divides the EU. Since Serbia is a country striving to become an EU member-state, the EU has a special reason to show, to the Americans firstly, that it is able to lead its own foreign policy,” Pribićević said, adding that "even America wants to hand the Kosovo issue over to the EU, so that it could try and reach a compromise solution".