As Kosovo leaders face growing criticism over the lack of transparency in the Serbia-Kosovo talks, opposition parties have dismissed the President’s stated willingness to report back to parliament on the dialogue process.
After Kosovo President Hashim Thaci said he was willing to report back to parliament on the process of the dialogue with the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, opposition parties say they are not interested in his reports as he has no right to run the process in the first place.
The head of the opposition Vetevendosje parliamentary group, Glauk Konjufca, told BIRN that reporting back at this point in time was not good enough.
“A person who is not mandated for this process and who simply announced himself as the leader of the dialogue cannot report back,” Konjufca said.
He added that the parliamentary system in Kosovo does not factor in debates between MPs and the President.
“The President just comes and says his word … this does not bring any solution. On the contrary, it only can make the situation even more tense because we cannot answer his words as we do not have the right to debate … that is symbolic reporting,” Konjufca explained.
Driton Selmanaj, MP from the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, told BIRN that the LDK had made it clear that it does not believe the ruling coalition has the legitimacy to continue running the EU-led dialogue in Brussels.
“We see snap elections as the only solution – to have credible and legitimate institutions out of these elections, and then to continue with the dialogue process,” he added.
Selmanaj said Thaci’s meetings with Vucic in Brussels were just his own individual meetings because “no one gave him the mandate to negotiate”.
“He has usurped the process, so any agreement might be his own private agreement but in no way represents Kosovo’s institutions – and will have difficulties being ratified by parliament,” Selmanaj stated.
He called Thaci’s readiness to report to the parliament and government just an attempt “to promote himself”.
Local NGOs in Kosovo have frequently complained about the lack of transparency in the EU-mediated Belgrade-Pristina talks.
Jeta Krasniqi, from the Kosovo Democratic Institute, KDI, said in March that this lack of transparency had characterised the entire dialogue.
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