Response to Kosovo issue
Serbia’s Prime Minister Vucic wants to set up a “people’s movement”.
03/11/2023, 7:09 p.m
The EU calls on Serbia to normalize relations with Kosovo. Prime Minister Vucic doesn’t want to know anything about it. Instead, he plans to found a “popular movement for the state.” The Serb does not explain exactly how to conduct “responsible politics.”
In the face of Western pressure to normalize relations with neighboring Kosovo, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic wants to establish a “popular movement for the state”. In a sports hall in the southern Serbian town of Vranje, in front of numerous activists, he called on people to join his new “non-partisan” movement, which should be founded by the beginning of June. Their goal is a “wise, clever and responsible policy,” he said, as reported by the Belgrade news agency Tanjug.
On the subject of Kosovo, Serbia is expecting “many difficult situations,” Vucic explained on a Serbian TV station the night before. He wanted to target people outside of the parties. In Vranje, the head of state confirmed that he would not recognize Kosovo’s independence “neither de facto nor de jure”.
Serbia should enable Kosovo to enter the UN
This contradicts the normalization plan that the EU proposed to the two countries last autumn. Among other things, this plan provides that Serbia will no longer block Kosovo’s membership in international organizations such as the UN. In return, Pristina should allow the predominantly ethnic Serb communities in Kosovo to form an association. The next EU mediation attempt on this is planned for March 18 in Ohrid, North Macedonia, at a meeting with Vucic and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. This is recognized by almost all EU countries. Kosovo and Serbia aspire to join the EU. Vucic did not say what the new “movement” should do specifically. According to observers, the already authoritarian president wants to consolidate his power through the propaganda value of this “movement” with a view to the difficult Kosovo issue.