Customs conflict between Serbia and Kosovo

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Serbian protests in Zvečan on July 30, 2011.

The customs conflict between Serbia and Kosovo ( Albanian  Kriza në Kosovë Veriore , Serbian Криза на северу Косова Kriza na severu Kosova ) is the name given to the events surrounding import bans between these countries. Serbia had banned the import of goods from Kosovo because it did not recognize the country's customs stamps - like its statehood in general. In return, Kosovo reacted by banning the import of Serbian goods. When the government of Kosovo tried to enforce the ban with the help of police forces, violent clashes broke out, which sparked intense negotiations.

course

escalation

The burned down Jarinje border crossing on July 29, 2011.

On the night of July 25th to 26th, 2011, Kosovar special police forces were supposed to occupy the checkpoint on behalf of the government of Kosovo in order to restore "legal order" . Only at the Jarinje border crossing did the Serbs who control the border not enforce the border ban and continued to let Serbian goods pass through to Kosovo. The Kosovar special police unit dispatched as a result was stopped by roadblocks on the Prishtina-Kraljevo-Belgrade road by Serbs who had obviously been warned. Confrontations broke out in the course of which a police officer from the special unit was killed. Units of the international protection force KFOR then secured the border crossings. Soldiers rallied in northern Kosovo to avoid escalating violence.

Negotiations between the parties followed, which, according to KFOR, ended with an agreement that included three points:

  • Return of the special police to northern Kosovo
  • Dissolution of all roadblocks
  • The Jarinje customs post is operated by Serbian and Albanian Kosovar police officers.

On the evening of July 27, 2011, around 50 masked Serbs who rejected the outcome of the negotiations stormed the Jarinje border crossing and set fire. Around 25 customs officers and police officers, including representatives from EULEX, fled to Serbia. The attackers also attacked a KFOR post in the area. Shots were fired at NATO soldiers at the border post and at one of their helicopters .

On the same day, the Kosovar head of government Hashim Thaçi ( PDK ) accused the Serbian government of having ordered the violent riots. KFOR moved units to the region and took control of all of northern Kosovo. The Serbian Prime Minister Boris Tadić ( DS ) called on the population to calm down and stressed that the violence would damage the interests of Serbia. He called the attackers " hooligans " . Serbia also submitted a motion to the UN Security Council to condemn the Kosovar police taking over the customs posts.

Kosovar police and Italian carabinieri on the Ibar Bridge on July 30, 2011.

The attempt by KFOR to dissolve the Serbian road blockades was broken off on July 29, 2011 on the orders of KFOR commander Erhard Bühler to prevent further bloodshed. Only in the following days could isolated roadblocks be cleared. In view of the situation in northern Kosovo, KFOR requested reinforcement of the protection force. On August 2, 2011, the defense ministries of Germany and Austria announced that a reserve battalion of the Operational Reserve Force (ORF) with around 550 soldiers from Germany and 150 soldiers from Austria would be deployed.

negotiations

Catherine Ashton (2009)

On February 24, 2012, the spokeswoman for the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy , Catherine Ashton , announced that Serbia and Kosovo had agreed on modalities for the future behavior of Kosovo. According to this, Kosovo can take part in bilateral negotiations under the name Kosovo without Serbia accepting its independence. In addition, the border posts are to be managed jointly in the future.

On April 4, KFOR announced that it had received an order to close the alternative roads at the Brnjak and Jarinje border crossings in order to stop illegal border traffic.

On June 1, when a barricade was cleared in Rudari i Madh or Rudari i Vogël , a few kilometers north of Mitrovica , an exchange of fire between KFOR soldiers and demonstrators broke out. Two Bundeswehr soldiers and three Serbs were injured. The barricade was erected in July 2011.

First agreements

On the night of December 4th to 5th, 2012, Catherine Ashton announced that Ivica Dačić and Hashim Thaçi had agreed on joint border posts in the third round of talks. The border crossings Konculj , Merdare , Jarinje and Brnjak were to be managed jointly by the Serbian, Kosovar police and Eulex until the end of the year. In Jarinje and Merdare, the joint controls should start on December 10th.

In addition, the following points were agreed:

  • There are no official symbols on the border posts.
  • Certain goods are to be imported into Kosovo from Serbia duty-free.
  • There is no obligation to use Kosovar license plates.
  • Serbia undertakes to provide a complete list of the financing of the Serbian parallel structures in Kosovo.
  • Contact offices without diplomatic status are set up within the framework of the EU delegations in Belgrade and Prishtina.
  • A multi-ethnic police unit in Kosovo, responsible for the protection of Serbian Orthodox cultural monuments and churches, is set up.

Since December 2nd, a group of Serbs protested at the Jarinje border crossing against the " introduction of the border with the motherland ".

On the night of January 17-18, 2013, Dačić and Thaçi agreed on a regulation on the provisional handling of customs duties, taxes and VAT. Accordingly, the EU should create a development fund to manage the money. These are to be issued for the large communities of Leposavić , Zvečan , Zubin Potok and Kosovska Mitrovica in northern Kosovo.

Meeting in April 2013

  • Ivica Dačić (2010)

Ivica Dačić and Hashim Thaçi met again on April 1, 2013 for negotiations. The day before, demonstrators again blocked the Jarinje border crossing. They wanted to prevent Serbia from compromising too much.

Agreement at the end of April

The northern Kosovo (orange colored)

In a further round of negotiations (the tenth) in the week from April 15 to April 21, 2013, the conflicting parties agreed on a 15-point agreement:

  • Serbia does not recognize the independence of Kosovo, but does grant the Kosovar government jurisdiction over the claimed territory.
  • North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposavic are given a high degree of independence.
  • The areas north of the river Ibar should be able to organize themselves as a community with its own president and assembly as well as representation at a central level. This organization should be responsible for economic development, education, health care and spatial planning.
  • Only one police organization is said to exist in Kosovo. The Serbs, previously employed in a parallel security structure, are to be offered the service in a Kosovar unit. The local police commanders must be ethnic Serbs. They are proposed by the mayors of northern Kosovo and appointed by the Kosovar government.
  • In the judiciary, too, there should only be one structure. The court of appeal in Pristina is to have its own Serbian-Kosovar committee.
  • Kosovo can apply for membership in the European Union.

After the negotiations, the EU Commission spoke out in favor of entering into accession negotiations with Serbia and starting negotiations on a stabilization and association agreement for Kosovo , explicitly referring to the agreement.

Ratifications

After the settlement, the Serbian prime minister and his deputy, Ivica Dačić and Aleksandar Vučić , received death threats. The Srpska Radikalna Stranka party distributed leaflets with Vučić's telephone number.

On April 22nd, the Kosovar parliament voted 89 against 5 for the agreement. The Serbian cabinet also agreed on the same day and the Serbian parliament also had to agree in the following days. In contrast, representatives of the Kosovar Serbs demanded that a referendum be held at a meeting in Zvečan , since the treaty violated the Serbian constitution by giving up part of the territory.

The municipal councils of the four affected North Kosovar municipalities North Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zvecan and Zubin Potok decided to send a joint letter to Russia on May 8, in which the North Kosovo Serbs and the “ authorities in Belgrade ” would help against the “ unilateral actions Washington, Brussels and Pristina ”was requested. The “ constitutional order of the Republic of Serbia in Kosovo ” should be protected. The municipal councils also agreed to appeal to the Serbian Constitutional Court.

A few hours before an EU Ulitmatum expired, the Serbian cabinet finally approved the agreement on May 26th. The day before the Serbian Deputy Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vučić, called for renegotiations.

When the Kosovar Parliament ratified the normalization agreement on June 27, 2013, around 300 supporters of the Vetëvendosje blocked ! Party the building. They wanted to protest against the agreement that they see as a betrayal of national interests. The police used tear gas and the demonstrators threw paint bags. 17 police officers were injured and there were at least 68 arrests. Nevertheless, the MPs passed the agreement to normalize relations between the country and Serbia with 84 votes out of 110.

Local elections

On November 3, 2013, elections took place for the first time - as decided in April. In the run-up there were various acts of violence such as bombings and attacks against people who support the holding of the elections. An Eulex customs officer was shot dead. Adrijana Hodžić , mayoral candidate in North Mitrovica, suspected smugglers behind the attacks. The Democratic Party of Serbia called for an election boycott.

On the day of the election, masked people raided polling stations in Mitrovica, beat up voters and demolished ballot boxes. They also threw tear gas at those waiting and an explosive device was found. The attacks had to close the polling stations earlier than planned. KFOR announced that it had intervened in Mitrovica and Zvecan. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which helped organize the election, withdrew dozens of staff for security reasons and took the ballot boxes with them.

On November 4th, one day after the election, the Central Election Commission announced that it was unable to publish preliminary results. Nevertheless, she announced that ten Kosovar municipalities had elected a new mayor. There will be a runoff election in 25 municipalities on December 1st. The OSCE stated the voter turnout to be between 11 and a maximum of 22 percent.

See also

Web links

Commons : Category Kosovo protests 2011 with subcategories  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d A stamp and a dead man. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . July 28, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2011 .
  2. ↑ Igniting Kosovo. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . July 28, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2011 .
  3. ↑ KFOR takes over the devastated border post. In: ORF . July 28, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2011 .
  4. ↑ Serbian blockade forces NATO soldiers to turn back. In: Tages-Anzeiger . July 30, 2011, accessed August 2, 2011 .
  5. ↑ Swiss soldiers clear road blockades in Kosovo. In: Tages-Anzeiger. August 1, 2011, accessed August 2, 2011 .
  6. ↑ The Federal Army sends 150 soldiers to Kosovo. In: The press . August 2, 2011, accessed August 2, 2011 .
  7. ↑ Serbia and Kosovo find a compromise. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. February 24, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2012 .
  8. ↑ NATO closes green border. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . April 4, 2012, Retrieved April 5, 2012 .
  9. ↑ Two German soldiers wounded. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . Retrieved June 1, 2012 .
  10. ↑ a b c border dispute settled
  11. ↑ Serbia and Kosovo agree on customs regulations
  12. ↑ Belgrade and Pristina reach compromise on border taxes
  13. ↑ New attempt to solve the Kosovo crisis
  14. ↑ a b c d e f g Belgrade and Pristina are looking ahead
  15. ↑ EU Commission recommends accession negotiations with Serbia
  16. ↑ Death threats against the top Serbian government
  17. ↑ Kosovars and Serbs vote for their agreement
  18. ↑ Northern Kosovo Serbs defend themselves against the Brussels agreement
  19. ↑ Serbia votes for normalization agreements
  20. ↑ Serbia wants to renegotiate Kosovo agreement
  21. ↑ Nationalists block Kosovar parliament
  22. ^ Kosovo approved normalization agreements with Serbia
  23. ^ Tensions before the historic Kosovo election
  24. ↑ a b Debacle in Kosovo
  25. ↑ a b Attack on polling stations