From implementation to stagnation

Edita Tahiri, Kosovo’s Minister responsible for dialogue with Serbia has released her third report on the implementation of the agreements between the two countries. For the first time, the overwhelming message of her report is not positive.

She writes that October 2014 to March 2015 were marked by “regressing trends.”

“Different from earlier periods, the implementation process did not make any significant progress,” she said.

She lauds the agreement on the structure of the judiciary for Kosovo’s northern municipalities—reached on February 10—which will unify all of Kosovo under one judicial system.

Kosovo Customs on 1 January 2015 began collecting customs and liaison offices in Prishtina and Belgrade have started organizing all official visits.

There has been progress on the issue of the “Civil Protection:” since February 2015, both sides have been drafting a plan to incorporate the units under Prishtina’s management. Also, the EU has initiated efforts to contract an implementing partner for the permanent integrated border structures.

However, Tahiri raises concern that deadlines have passed on a number of crucial items. For instance, Kosovo still lacks a telephone code. The original plan was that Kosovo’s code would be up and running by 1 January 2015, but there is a problem with the application. The energy agreement is also not fully implemented.

An agreement on mutual recognition of vehicle insurance, a serious concern for both Kosovars and Serbs, has been pending for two years.

Finally, the creation of the Association of Serbian-majority municipalities, Serbia’s key dialogue priority, seems no closer than it did six months ago. Tahiri is adamant that this will only be addressed after the full implementation of already-reached agreements on justice, security, dismantling of parallel structures and the removal of the Iber River bridge barricade in North Mitrovica.

The full report is available under the “documents” section of the Kosovo government’s website.

This story was written as part of BIG DEAL, a civic oversight project examining the implementation of agreements between Kosovo and Serbia. The project is being implemented by BIRN Kosovo, Internews Kosova and Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability – CRTA, with support from the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

27/03/2015 - 16:14

27 March 2015 - 16:14

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