Kosovo could soon find itself targeted by serious sanctions from the entire Euro-Atlantic community, according to high-level diplomatic sources close to Euractiv, the publication reported on Wednesday, June 12th. It appears patience is running out as Pristina seems reluctant to implement Washington and Brussel’s three-step peace proposal and de-escalate the North Kosovo crisis.
The information from the unnamed diplomatic sources was also confirmed by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, who canceled his planned meeting with Kosovo’s PM Albin Kurti on Wednesday, specifically citing pending punitive measures from the West as one of the reasons.
Meanwhile, Kosovo’s president traveled to Strasbourg to give a speech in front of the European Parliament and pretend that everything was all right.
Austerity measures
The sanctions—imposed by both the EU and the U.S.—would probably include freezing funds and halting both the visa liberalization process and Kosovo’s accession processes to multiple international organizations.
Furthermore, measures could also include reorganizing the international military presence, seriously reducing the U.S. contingent first—which Pristina relies on as its primary protection from internal and external threats. Individual sanctions against members of the Kosovar political elite are also on the table but would be only imposed in further phases if necessary.
Along with sanctions, diplomatic measures will also take place, such as barring Kosovo from attending high-level international events, ceasing all bilateral meetings between the country and Western officials (except those directly relating to the crisis), and even suspending the country’s involvement in several projects that are part of the EU’s Investment Fund for the Western Balkans.
After the Albanian premier canceled his meeting with Kurti, to which the two countries’ defense ministers were also invited, Rama said that continuing the discussion was no longer possible due to the “hourly worsening of Kosovo’s relations with the entire Euro-Atlantic community.”
After talking to Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, Rama also said that Kosovo’s actions leave Brussels with no option but to introduce the sanctions immediately, if needed. “I repeat, we are on the verge of putting the plan into motion because I don’t even want to talk about sanctions, but of austerity measures against a state,” the Albanian PM said.
Leaving the West ‘unilaterally’
The sanctions are being imposed because Kosovo remains unwilling to fully cooperate with the West’s efforts to deescalate the situation in the north. Tensions there grew exponentially after Pristina last month took control of municipal buildings in the Serb-majority towns and installed ethnic Kosovar (Albanian) mayors and officials, who are regarded as illegitimate by locals after winning the April elections solely because the Serb population boycotted it.
As we wrote then, the ensuing protests quickly got out of hand, leaving 52 Serb protesters and 30 KFOR soldiers—11 from the Italian and 19 from the Hungarian contingent—wounded.
Last week, U.S. and EU envoys presented a three-point proposal to Pristina, which includes returning to EU-led peace negotiations, holding new elections, and general de-escalation, which would obviously have to start with the withdrawal of Kosovar police and mayors from the Serb-majority northern region.
For the long term, however, the peacemakers also expect Kosovo to finally grant the local Serbs territorial autonomy, which it has failed to implement ever since it agreed to under an EU-brokered peace deal in 2013.
The currently discussed sanctions basically mean that Pristina did not give a sufficient answer to the proposal yet, despite the mediators being brutally clear about the consequences.
“If they do not accept, it means that they are leaving the Euro-Atlantic partnership unilaterally,” the U.S. special envoy, Gabriel Escobar said, adding that if Pristina does not return to the EU-mediated dialogue, it “will be turning its back to Europe” too—meaning no chance for EU membership in the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile in Fairyland
Ironically, the news of imminent Western sanctions and Kosovo barring itself from future cooperation with both the U.S. and the EU broke on the same day the country’s President Vjosa Osmani traveled to Strasbourg to speak before the European Parliament’s plenary, talking about a bright future and urging Kosovo’s EU accession.
“In this process, we need strong European leadership,” Osmani told the MEPs, saying that the accession will require “a proactive, credible and straightforward roadmap for our region’s future as part of the European family.”
As the first President of Kosovo to speak before the European Parliament since the country’s independence, she stressed that Pristina wants to reach a sustainable and just peace in the North Kosovo conflict, with respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, and “good neighborly relations” at its heart.
Then, directly speaking to the Serb community, she promised that Pristina “will do everything in our power to make sure that you feel protected, included, equal, and heard.”
Nonetheless, words are one thing, and actions are another. Unless Kosovo does live up to these fancy promises—and rather quickly—it will find itself in a very lonely situation with no chance of practicing ‘good neighborly relations’ even if it wanted to.
