Serbia, the EU and Kosovo

Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Dragoljub Mićunović stated in an interview with Politika Online that Serbia ought to preserve its influence in Kosovo while bearing the importance of EU membership in mind. Mićunović expressed that Serbia’s EU candidacy will not hinge on Belgrade’s institutional withdrawal from Kosovo given that it fulfilled many of the EU’s requirements to date. Central among the prerequisites are that Serbia fully cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding the arrest of Serbian war criminals as well as the establishment of constructive dialogue between Priština and Belgrade.

Short overview of Serbia’s accession efforts to date:

· June 19, 2000: Serbia receives the status of a potential EU candidate

· June 6, 2006: Serbia and Montenegro become independent

· February 17, 2008: Kosovo announces its independence despite Serbia’s resistance

· February 18, 2008:The Council sets the parameters for questions and regulations egarding EU and Serbian partnership

· April 29, 2008: Serbia and the EU sign the Stabilization and Association-Agreement as well as the Free Trade Agreement without immediate adaptation

· December 7, 2009: Upon the Council of Europe’s positive classification regarding ICC and Serbian cooperation, Serbia and the EU embark on the Interim-Free Trade Agreement

· December 19, 2009: Visa liberalization for Serbian citizens concerning the Schengen area

· December 22, 2009: Serbia officially applies to EU membership

· June 14, 2010: EU member states ratify the Stabilization and Association Agreement

· June 22, 2010: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) rules that Kosovo’s proclamation of independence was not unlawful

· September 8, 2011: The EU welcomes Serbia’s decision to embark on a dialogue with Kosovo

· October 25, 2010: Foreign Ministers of EU member states request that the Commission Examine Serbia’s EU candidacy

· January 19, 2011: The Parliament passes the Stabilizing and Association-Agreement between Serbia and the EU

· May 26, 2011: Serbian war criminal Ratko Mladić is arrested

The fundamental question, according to Mićunović, is the date regarding Serbia’s accessions negotiations. This he says, if obviously tied to the status of Kosovo. The Chairman proposed that Serbia ought to engage in a wider dialogue with the international community – with reference to UN Res. 1244 – so as to normalize relations with Priština. Further, Serbia should cooperate and trade with Kosovo so that unconstructive behavior between the two does not obstruct Serbia’s accession into the EU. He does thus not see Merkel’s message regarding Kosovo as an ultimatum by which Serbia must decide whether or not to keep Kosovo within its influence or to become a member of the EU. This, Mićunović states, was a dilemma that concerned the previous government – whether or not opt for the heavenly or earthly empire (Milošević’s employment of King Lazars myth so as to stir up nationalism). There is no such dilemma. Serbia no longer has great influence over Kosovo, yet, it is important at it preserve what influence it has to date. This, however, should occur according to the satisfaction with the citizens there and with all of us (Serbians). But, further policies regarding Kosovo ought to ensue within a framework in which Serbia must and should become a EU member state.

"Srbija treba da pokrene razgovor o statusu severa Kosova". Politika Online. accessedSeptember 11, 2011. www.politika.rs/rubrike/Politika/Srbija-treba-da-pokrene-razgovor-o-statusu-severa-Kosova.lt.html

"Mićunović: Prekinuti sa iluzijama o tome da je Kosovo naše". Ekonom East Group. accessedSeptember 11, 2011. www.emg.rs/vesti/srbija/163766.html

"Serbischer Kriegsverbrecher Ratko Mladić verhaftet". EU Nachrichten. accessed September11, 2011. Europa.eu/news/external-relations/2010/10/20101026_de.htm

Sandžak

The president of the Bosniak National Council Mevlud Dudić called in an immediate meeting of the all-Bosniak Parliament in Sandžak – headed by Grand Mufti Zukorlić – regarding the illegal exclusion of religious instructors from teaching Islam. Such exclusion is the continuous discrimination and repression against Bosniaks and Muslims in Serbia, says Dudić. The Parliament is holding its session on September the 11^th together with the BNV (Bosniak National Council) as well as the entire body of the all-Bosniak Parliament which includes presidents and directors of Bosniak political, cultural educational and other organizational institutions including high representatives of the Islamic community. The all-Bosniak Parliament will discuss the deprivation of the Bosniak people in Serbia and it is expected that important conclusions will be adopted during the session. The Sandžak Press reported that the Serbian Ministry for Religion and Diaspora demonstrated their chauvinistic attitude toward Islam and other non-Serb communities with their actions. The Serbian president and the head of the Serbian government, so the report, must take urgent measures so as to improve the situation for the Islamic community. Obviously, according to the report, the goal of the Ministry for Religion and Diaspora seeks to convert Muslims to Orthodoxy which was made clear with the dismissal of Islamic teachers in whose place are put more suitable candidates. Sandžak’s Islamic community now demands that the Islamic Community of Serbia take a stance in accordance with the sharia (Islamic law) thereby issuing a fatwa (a legal pronouncement) regarding the validity of such circumstances for the Islamic religion. Should these demands not materialize within the coming seven days, the Association for teachers of Islam will call for disobedience and block all the access roads that connect to Sandžak.

Radio-televizija Srbija (RTS) has meanwhile reported that the published declaration, coming out of the session, announces that discrimination against Bosniaks is present at all levels of daily life. Further, the declaration announces, that aggression dating to 2007 was aimed at destroying Bosniak headquarters with the intent of converting Bosniak children to Orthodoxy. Serbia’s refusal to accredit the International University is, according to the document, aimed at sending Bosniak children back into ‘the dark’ with the aim ‘to enslave the individual and collective consciousnesses’. By extension, so the declaration, the purpose of the above mentioned tactics is to lower the influence Bosniaks hold in Sandžak. The Parliament thus asked the Bosnian Academy of Arts and Sciences, headed by Zukorlić, to join the Program for the Survival of the Bosniak People. The declaration was adopted and the ‘new’ called the Parliament in the National Council of Sandžak is planned to be headed by Džemail Suljević. The Parliament pursues to open offices in Brussels, Sandžak, Washington DC and Sarajevo. The new formation will be the strongest political organ in Sandžak and also plans to represent the interests of Serbs and Montenegrins.

"Zakazan drugi Svebošnjački sabor Sandžaka". Sandžak Press. accessed September 11,2011.sandzakpress.net/sakazan-drugi-Svebošnjački-sabor-Sandžaka

"Ministarstvo vjera i dijaspore – leglo šovinisma". Sandzak Press. accessed September 11,2011.sandzakpress.net/ministarstvo-vjera-i-dijaspore-leglo-sovinizma

"Deklaracija o discriminaciji u Sandžaku". Radio-televizija Srbije. accessed September 11,2011. www.rts.sr/page/stories/sr/story/125/Društvo/954390/Declaracija+o+discriminaciji+u+Sandžaku.html