The agreements reached in the dialogue to normalize relations with Kosovo should be reviewed by Serbia’s Constitutional Court. That is part of the program of the Student List, which won the elections in Serbia, according to its candidate Emilija Markoviq.
Markoviq made the statement in response to a question from N1 television about whether the Student List, which came to power after the October elections, would honor the commitments Serbia made in the European Union-mediated dialogue.
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She said Student List representatives had not yet fully taken up their duties and did not know precisely what had been signed. Once they review the documents and agreements, she said, they will determine where they can act and what needs to be reconsidered, insisting above all on respect for Serbia’s Constitution and laws.
On Kosovo, the Student List says it will be guided by Serbia’s Constitution, under which Kosovo is an integral part of the country.
The European Union has made clear that a change of government in Serbia does not erase its obligations in the process of normalizing relations with Kosovo. These include commitments stemming from the 2023 Agreement on the Path to Normalisation and its implementation annex.
Under that agreement, Serbia committed, among other things, to respect Kosovo’s territorial integrity and not obstruct its membership in international organizations. Kosovo, for its part, agreed to establish the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, through which the Serb community would have a certain degree of self-management.
According to Markoviq, Serbia’s new government faces serious talks with representatives of the international community on the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. She said the talks should begin on a different basis this time. The student program, she said, stipulates that the starting point should be the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, together with the fundamental principles of international law.
Kosovo’s position on the Association remains unchanged
Kosovo’s government told Radio Free Europe that its position on establishing the Association of Serb-majority municipalities has long been known: the Agreement on the Path to Normalisation must be signed to guarantee its implementation.
Although the document has not been signed, the European Union has stated several times that it is legally binding on both parties.
In addition to a signature, Kosovo is seeking the extradition of Millan Radoiçiq and other members of the armed group that carried out the attack in Banjskë in 2023. Kosovo authorities describe it as an attack on Kosovo’s legal and constitutional order.
In its response, Kosovo’s government also called for the withdrawal of a letter that Serbia’s former prime minister, Ana Bërnabiq, had sent to Brussels, addressed to the 27 member states of the European Union. In it, she stated that Serbia does not respect Kosovo’s territorial integrity.
Bërnabiq wrote in the letter that the Agreement on the Path to Normalisation and its implementation annex could be considered acceptable only if they did not imply de facto or de jure recognition of Kosovo.
Asked by Radio Free Europe about these demands, the Student Movement declined to comment. It said the new government would respond once it had been formed and had reviewed all the documents and the current situation.
No direct cooperation with the Serbian List is planned
Markoviq reiterated that the Student List would not cooperate with the Serbian List, the main party of Serbs in Kosovo, which has so far operated with the support of the Serbian Progressive Party and former Serbian President Aleksandar Vuçiq.
She said that, if necessary, the new leaders appointed to Serbia’s various institutions in Kosovo would cooperate with local representatives.
The Serbian List holds nine of the ten seats reserved for the Serb community in Kosovo’s Assembly and governs all ten Serb-majority municipalities.
Student List candidate Jugosllav Gashiq said communication with representatives of Serbs in Kosovo’s central institutions would take place through the international community.
Gashiq told RTV Vojvodina that the Student List is not a political party and therefore would not build a party infrastructure in Kosovo or have structures there that function as a party.
After the Student List’s victory in Serbia, the Serbian List expressed hope that institutional cooperation with Belgrade would continue.
In Kosovo’s central institutions, alongside the Serbian List, is Nenad Rashiq and his For Freedom, Justice and Survival party. He is also a minister in Albin Kurti’s government.
Before the elections in Serbia, Rashiq had endorsed the Student List, as had other opposition political representatives of Serbs at the local level.
