Page 19 - SE Outlook Regions 2023

with a stun grenade, a demonstration of force by Kosovo special police
in towns populated with Serbs and erecting road barricades on the
Serbian border.

Vucic said that Belgrade will work on reaching an agreement on
normalisation of relations with Pristina, but will not recognise Kosovo as
a state. Other red lines for Belgrade are the need to form the Union of
Serbian Municipalities and the security of the Serb population in the
north.

EU ambassadors on November 30 approved the negotiation mandate
of the EU Council for visa-free travel for Kosovo citizens, which should
start on January 1, 2024 at the latest, after years of delay due to the
prolonged decision making process.

Kosovo officially applied for EU membership on December 15, 2022, a
move opposed by Belgrade..

Kosovo, predominantly inhabited by Kosovan Albanians, and Serbia
have a history of tense relations following Kosovo’s independence war,
which ended with Nato strikes on Serbia in 1999 and Pristina’s
secession from Serbia in 2008. Russia is one of the biggest supporters
of Serbia, and there are fears Moscow could inflame the situation in the
Western Balkans.

1.6 Politics - Moldova

The war in Ukraine forced Moldova’s pro-EU authorities, in full control
of state institutions since mid-2021, to define a bold foreign policy
agenda perhaps sooner than expected, with the main elements being
EU membership and a robust defence system (seen previously as
incompatible with the status of military neutrality inked in the
constitution).

However, the authorities’ performance in terms of internal reforms,
political and economic, remains mixed. While sluggish economic
developments can be explained by external conditions, there has also
been a mixed performance in terms of judicial reforms.

The pro-EU authorities in Moldova have until the next parliamentary
elections in 2025 to implement irreversible legal and economic reforms
before their window of opportunity closes. The next presidential
elections are scheduled for late 2024.

Moldova successfully applied for EU candidate status in 2022 and
seeks membership by 2030. President Maia Sandu said in December
2022 that she expects full membership by 2030. By autumn 2023, the

19 SE Outlook 2023 www.intellinews.com