On 19 December, Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS) organized a Roundtable Discussion on the topic: “In search of Consensus: What should be the New Format of the Dialogue?”, held in Prishtina. The aim of this event was to discuss the new direction of the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue should take. For more than a year, there has been no substantial development regarding this process, with a significant stagnation towards the implementation of the already reached agreements. For this purpose, this roundtable discussed the new format that this Dialogue should take, including the new approach of the Republic of Kosovo towards the process. At the beginning of the discussion, Group for Legal and Political Studies presented a Policy Analysis entitled ‘In Search of Consensus: A proposal”, which addresses the shortcomings and challenges encountered so far, as well as the next steps that the political actors should undertake toward this process. The author of the Analysis and the Editor-in-Chief of Koha Ditore, Mr. Bajrami stated that the political dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia is to be concluded by 2019, while Kosovo has yet failed to reach a political consensus on how to further proceed with this process and its finalization. In addition, he was skeptical whether it is proper for the Dialogue to be led by the President of the Republic of Kosovo, as clearly he does not have the support of the parliamentary majority, and as such, it would be hard to reach a political consensus on this regard.  The panel was attended by most of the chairpersons of the parliamentary groups of political parties in Kosovo, providing their view on the process so far, and necessary steps to be undertaken. Mr. Konjufca from Levizja Vetëvendosje was the first to address the audience with a critical approach on the so far progress of the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue. He said that this process was accompanied with major mistakes, lack of transparency, as well as failures to implement the already reached agreements. While, Mr. Hoti from Kosovo Democratic League (LDK) said that despite the fact that the actual government is proven to be the weakest so far, the Dialogue should not be led by the President, but should remain under the responsibility of the government, with concrete support to be provided by the Assembly of Kosovo. Concluding his speech, he said that we should be aware that this process is very important to our country and we’re entering its final phase, very unprepared.  In addition, Mr. Isufi from the Alliance for Kosovo’s Future (AAK) stated that this process has clearly stagnated. Furthermore, the Dialogue itself should serve as a mechanism that helps improve the relation among both countries, with a final recognition by both parties, whereas internal matters pertaining to Kosovo should not be discussed during the negotiation process. Finally, Mr. Sherifi from Nisma concluded that the whole political spectrum in Kosovo should consider a joint discussion in order to reach a mutual consensus for this important process for Kosovo, and consequently draft a joint plan with concrete and achievable objectives. This roundtable was organized within the framework of the project ‘Normalization of the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue’ which involves a series of debates and analysis, and is supported by the Kosovo Foundation for Open Society (KFOS).

Panelists:

Mr. Glauk Konjufca – Chairperson of the Parliamentary Group, LVV;

Mr. Avdullah Hoti – Chairperson of the Parliamentary Group, LDK;

Mr. Ahmet Isufi – Chairperson of the Parliamentary Group, AAK;

Mr. Bilall Sherifi – Chairperson of the Parliamentary Group, Nisma;

Mr. Agron Bajrami – Author of the report and Editor-in-Chief, Koha Ditore.

Venue: Hotel Swiss Diamond Prishtina