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Opinion
June 9, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 24
ready shunned the notion that Kosovo’s president should remain politically neutral.
In 2014 it took six months after the elections for a new government to be formed. Any such delay this time would breed political turmoil that may well spill over into Macedonia, itself taking post-crisis baby steps; especially as KLA war veterans, riled by the Specialist Chambers’ indictments, seek
to distract from the perceived prosecution of the KLA’s legacy by threatening instability.
The elections could also further derail the Bel- grade-Pristina dialogue process that has all but reached a dead end. Kosovo’s failure to estab- lish an Association/Community of Serb-majority Municipalities (a key plank of the Brussels Agree- ment, an EU-brokered deal to normalise relations between Kosovo and Serbia) has virtually elimi- nated the possibility of further compromise, and a spate of security incidents earlier this year led
to a spike in tensions between the two. However, hopes are high that the inauguration of Serbia’s new president, Aleksandar Vucic, could create new momentum.
A PDK-AAK-Nisma government of state capture will do little to reform Kosovo’s brittle and com- promised state institutions, especially where justice and the rule of law are concerned. Interna- tional patience with Pristina is running out, as is that of its citizens (many of whom have left in their droves in recent years).
Snap elections, therefore, provide an important opportunity for Kosovo to achieve the one condi- tion for visa liberalisation that Europe really cares about – demonstrating a track record in tackling organised crime and corruption. Anything less will leave the country increasingly isolated and resent- ful, blaming others instead of taking responsibility for its own destiny.