The role of the European Union in the region stability
April 2023
Territorial tensions between Kosovo and Serbia are an issue that, for several decades now, and even going back to the times of the former Yugoslavia, have not had an apparent solution. Since the end of the war in 1999, multiple international security and diplomatic structures have existed in the territory, trying to establish, with varying degrees of success, long-term peace. Initially, the Finnish diplomat Martti Ahtisaari was tasked with finding a solution in the political arena. When at the end of 2007 his original plan was unsuccessful, Kosovo declared its independence with the support of the United States and the vast majority of the European Union, which naturally led to absolute rejection by Serbia. There was no contact between the parties again until 2011. Since then, there have been a total of four major moments of negotiations. The last of them occurred in 2023.
In this article I will carry out a careful analysis of the document promoted by the EU that both parties agreed to during the 2023 negotiations, known as the Ohrid Agreement. In addition to that, I will also look for what are the possible objectives and hopes on the part of the EU itself, Kosovo and Serbia, respectively. In the case of the latter, apart from the general aspirations of the Serbian state, I also consider it necessary to analyze more carefully the political movements of the Serbian nationalist president Aleksandar Vučić. The ultimate goal of the article is for the reader to effectively understand the current situation of the conflict and the potential directions it could take in the near future.
Sections:
Historical precedents and negotiations
Analysis of the contents of the agreement
Actor analysis
Conclusion