That was easy!

EU mediator Robert Cooper opened talks between Pristina and Belgrade Tuesday in Brussels, marking the launch of a dialogue process called for by the UN General Assembly last fall and likely to last many months if not years.  Chief negotiators Borko Stefanovic and Edita Tahiri are eminently capable and qualified exponents of their respective sides and will be expected to try to keep the talks going despite shaky political situations in both capitals.

I’ve now heard several different versions of the agenda, with Stefanovic saying the first item was land registers, diplomatic sources saying it was supposed to be customs (an obviously sensitive issue for the Serbian side) and the Americans originally interested in establishing the authority of the Kosovo courts in northern Kosovo.

I’m not sure it matters much.  Whatever works is okay for me.  But I do think it will be difficult to keep the focus on practical issues without wandering off into status questions.  If you don’t think land registers can be linked to status issues, guess again.  Serbian government and Church land claims in Kosovo are extensive.  The link of status to customs and courts is too obvious to mention.

This is one of those diplomatic dances that drives outsiders nuts.  All the diplomats agree the talks are about practical issues, not status, but it is also perfectly clear that the eventual goal is to get to a situation in which Serbia can accept Kosovo as a sovereign state, one way or another.  Membership in the UN might be sufficient, if formal diplomatic recognition proves too difficult.

Nothing less than that will get Serbia into the EU, and nothing less than that will satisfy Pristina and Washington either.  We just don’t say it in polite company, because it will make life harder for those Belgrade who want to prioritize Serbia’s EU membership. But that symmetrical table, with the Pristina delegation on one side and the Belgrade delegation on the other, already presages the eventual outcome.

That is not to say there isn’t a lot of work to be done on practical issues, or that it won’t be useful to start with them.  The potential agenda is long:  land registers, customs, authority of the Pristina institutions in northern Kosovo, mutual recogntion of documents, return of artefacts, state property, citizenship, pensions, salary arrears, transportation and telecommunication links, police and border patrol cooperation…. Resolving at least some of these issues will improve relations between Pristina and Belgrade–which have been virtually non-existent since the 1999 NATO/Yugoslavia war.

I trained both Serbian foreign service officers and Kosovan officials for these talks years ago. I’m delighted to see that they are happening, and I wish both sides well in pursuing their legitimate interests.  Success in these talks will help a good deal to move the Balkans closer to the EU.  Failure is not an option.  Best wishes to Edita and Borko!