Serbia, the EU and Kosovo: time to swallow frogs

ZELJKO PANTELIC

08.09.2010 @ 12:26 CET

Zoran Djindjic, the charismatic Serbian prime minister assassinated in 2003, liked to quote the American Indian proverb: "If you have to swallow a frog don't look at it too much, just swallow. And if you have to swallow a few frogs, swallow the biggest one first." Time has proven Mr Djindjic right, and he was probably Serbia's only top politician who dared confront the problems that others tried to avoid.

Tadic had dinner with Ashton on Tuesday, with talks on the UN resolution continuing on Wednesday (Photo: European Commission)

For years, Serbia's political leadership ducked the Kosovo question and the evolving reality around it. Instead, they hid behind international law and the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty. In the meantime, Kosovo declared independence in 2008 and the International Court of Justice said that the declaration did not violate international law.

The time to swallow some frogs has come. Belgrade is ready to accept the EU as the key actor orchestrating dialogue with Kosovo. And it is ready to accept EU corrections of Serbia's proposal for a UN General Assembly resolution on Kosovo.

According to EU proposals, the Kosovo dialogue should deal with "non-resolved issues" - a clever diplomatic formula accomodating countries that have recognised Kosovo and consider the issue "resolved" as well as the five EU governments which have so far refused to recognise it.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, in a statement issued late on Wednesday, announced both sides had reached agreement on a joint draft resolution to be put before the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday.

"This draft resolution will now be a resolution put forward by 28 European countries. All 27 EU member states and Serbia will be co-sponsoring this draft resolution", she said.

Following months of deteriorating relationship with major EU players and strong language on Kosovo, Belgrade has decided to change tack.

Ivan Vejvoda, the executive director of the German Marshal Fund's Balkan Trust for Democracy, has called it a return of Mr Tadic's former political strategies.

"In the last months, we have witnessed Serbia's position moving to a more pragmatic approach. A return to the position that European integration is Serbia's first priority. It has become clear that the politics of confrontation with the EU and the most influential Western countries are harmful for Serbia, for the region and in the long run also for the EU," Mr Vejvoda, who has good connections with the Serbian leadership, said.

Newspapers close to the government have also begun quoting government sources as saying it would be harmful for Serbia to enter into open confrontation with the EU on Kosovo.

"Different factors have influenced Serbia's new approach in the communication with the EU and its most important countries," Mr Vejvoda added. "Of course the most important is the world financial crisis which showed how strongly the Serbian economy is linked to developments in the EU. The second reason is that Belgrade understood that the best way to defend its own interests and those of Kosovo Serbs is to be co-operative with the EU and open a dialogue about the so-called non resolved issues. Also, Serbian public opinion has changed in the last two years, and Serbian citizens understand better the Kosovo problem. Public remarks by Tomislav Nikolic [the leader of Serbia's biggest opposition party, the SNS] have relaxed the atmosphere and showed that all key players are perfectly aware that the Kosovo issue could be resolved only peacefully."

An senior EU diplomat told WAZ.EUobserver that President Tadic realised three years ago that elections in Serbia cannot be won by simply defending Kosovo but that, at the same time, they may well be lost by underestimating the Kosovo question. "That is why he used the winning slogan 'Kosovo and Europe'," The diplomat said.

"Apparently, President Tadic understood in the last months that for his government the very bad social and economic situation is more dangerous than the Kosovo problem. The living standard of Serbian citizens can only be improved if new investments come to Serbia - and almost all potential investors come from countries recognising Kosovo. So the political confrontation with those countries leads not just to political but also to serious economic consequences."

http://waz.euobserver.com/887/30756