In an extraordinary session amid the Coronavirus crisis, Kosovo parliament decided to mandate country’s government as the only authority to conduct negotiations with Serbia for the normalization of relations between the two countries.
The decision was made public by the Speaker of Parliament Vjosa Osmani on Twitter.
Our Constitution was already clear -and now – so is the political will of the #Kosovo Parliament from a vote last night. The dialog with SRB shall be led by the Gov’t of Kosovo. No one shall be able to negotiate RKS territorial integrity, sovereignty and its constitutional order pic.twitter.com/DfXt6se4Mi
— Vjosa Osmani (@VjosaOsmaniMP) March 15, 2020
The decision is a clear blow to Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi who has led, for the past decade, all negotiations with Serbia, while coalitions led by his party have held a majority in parliament.
Thaçi has received criticism and public backlash in the past for allegedly agreeing to an accord with Serbian President Alexander Vučič which included land swap between the two countries.
Details of any agreement have never been made public, and little is known of the content of discussions so far.
Thaçi has conducted negotiations as a personal affair, excluding Kosovo’s parliament, government and other institutions from any involvement or information on the matter.
He has been harshly criticized for this approach and accused that he has met Vučič in secret several time.
Following last October’s elections, which Thaçi’s coalition lost, Prime Minister Kurti has taken central stage on the issue of negotiations with Serbia. Kurti, who is contrary to any land swap, even accused Thaçi of having already reached a secret agreement with Vučič.
Despite the power change and a Constitutional Court decision from 2019 stipulating that only the government can engage in negotiations with Serbia, Thaçi did not seem to back off from his role, and continued to discuss and reach accords with Vučič, ignoring Kurti’s government and the new parliament.
Two weeks ago, Thaçi met with Vučič at the White House, in discussions coordinated by Richard Grenell, President Trump’s special envoy for Kosovo and Serbia.
Grenell has clashed with Kurti regarding lifting of the 100% tariff on Serbian goods, imposed by Kurti’s predecessor Ramush Haradinaj in November 2018.
Kurti has proposed a two-step phasing out of tariffs over a one-month period, with Serbia reciprocating by ceasing the Kosovo derecognition campaign, while Grenell’s has pushed for the immediate and unconditional removal of all tariffs, in order to open the way for resuming negotiations.
Faced with Kurti steadfast position, Grenell wanted to give the message that US administration will deal with Thaçi on the issue if Kurti does not back down.
But after this later move by Kosovo parliament, Thaçi would be without any formal power to be involved in any capacity in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.
