Mimosa Dhima |
Pristina (EFE).- Kosovo celebrates the 15th anniversary of its unilateral declaration of independence with the challenge of normalizing its relations with Serbia through a dialogue supported by the European Union (EU) which, together with the US, is pressing an agreement that avoids other sources of crisis in the face of the war in Ukraine.
For the Kosovo Albanian majority, the day of independence is a joy and a national pride that marks the separation from Serbia, which continues to consider its former province part of its territory and cradle of the nation, and refuses to recognize its sovereignty.
The festivities include a meeting of the Government, followed by a solemn session of the Parliament, a parade of the security forces, exhibitions, a book fair, concerts and ceremonies to commemorate those who fell in the 1998-1999 war between the guerrillas. separatist and Serb forces.
Kosovo declared independence on February 17, 2008, nine years after a war that killed 13,000 and ended with a NATO intervention that forced Serbia to withdraw from its former province.
Since then, Kosovo has been recognized by 117 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and most of the members of the European Union (EU), but not by Spain, Russia, and China, the latter two having the right to veto its entry. at the United Nations.
parallel companies
Even today, ethnic Albanians and the minority Serbs live in parallel societies, with little interaction, something that is evident in the divided city of Mitrovica, where tensions are frequent.
Last November, Serbs walked out of their public posts in northern Mitrovica, where they are the majority, enraged by a government ultimatum to use official Kosovo license plates, not Serbian ones, on their vehicles.
Between mistrust and mutual accusations, the EU has spent a decade sponsoring a dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo that has recorded little progress, despite the fact that the normalization of relations is a condition for eventual entry into the community club.
A new plan, launched by France and Germany in mid-2022, and supported by Brussels and Washington, seems to be more realistic and hopeful, since both the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic, and the Kosovar prime minister, Albin Kurti, have given signs positive due to strong international pressure.
“It is not that Kosovo gains much, there is no formal recognition (of sovereignty), but it would lose a lot if it did not sign it because it would present itself to the allies as non-constructive, while they demand that there is no other fragile point within Europe after the war. in Ukraine”, Lirim Mehmetaj, editor-in-chief of the Albanian Post newspaper, told EFE.
According to that journalist, the plan mentions that it renounces Serbia’s territorial claims over Kosovo, which would extinguish the possibility of a conflict in the north of the province.
Kosovo, in exchange, would have to grant some autonomy to the Serb minority in matters of economy, health, education and justice, but not executive, something agreed in 2013 but which Pristina has not complied with until now, since it first demands that Belgrade recognize its independence.
Kurti, leader of the nationalist Vetëvendosje Movement, has so far built his political career in opposition to that autonomy, which, he warns, could lead to the division of Kosovo, and during his time as opposition leader he even organized violent protests to oppose it.
Among the Kosovars there are opinions such as that of Albert Krasniqi, 24, who explains to EFE that the Serbs “want to create a state within Kosovo, like in Bosnia.”
For her part, Laura Kryeziu, an analyst and leader of a development projects organization, argues that the Kosovars are “victims of Kurti’s political ego”, which she accuses of wanting to save himself, and not the country.
According to sociologist Artan Muhaxhiri, “this is the right time to reach an agreement since Russia, an ally of Serbia, is weakened by the war in Ukraine.”
A situation that, he maintains, could end up benefiting Serbia, if its government is “constructive”.