Agreement between Belgrade and Pristina on joint border control
(BRUSSELS2) While last week relations were far from being good between Serbs and Kosovars*, the two Prime Ministers, Ivica Dacic on the Serbian side and Hashim Thaçi on the Kosovar side, agreed to send liaison officers respectively in Belgrade and Pristina and considered progress on the Integrated Border Management (IBM) agreement in order to set up common border checkpoints. The decision was taken in Brussels during the 3rd dialogue facilitation meeting between the two countries, conducted under the aegis of the European Union.
The two men agreed to send respective liaison officers. This is a significant point for the discussions between the two capitals. Discussions had already taken place during the first two meetings on October 19 and November 7. Initially the European Union and its delegations in Belgrade and Pristina will serve as an office for the two officers. Regarding IBM, an agreement in principle was reached a year ago. This time, the working group has drawn up the agreement and the details have been fixed. In all, four common control points will be set up before the end of 2012. The first two points, 1 (Jarinje) & 3 (Merdare), will be operational from 10 December. The other two, 5 (Drini I Bardhe) & 31 (Brnjak), will be ready by December 31, 2012.
The next meeting, to be held on January 17, should focus on the protection of the Serbian community within Kosovo. Kosovar Prime Minister Thaçi has already confirmed the establishment of a special multi-ethnic police unit to protect "cultural and religious heritage". The two countries are also expected to discuss ways to ensure the transparency of monetary flows between Belgrade and the Serbian community in Kosovo. Work on energy and telecommunications has been left to the experts and will also be on the January agenda. Last point, increased cooperation between the commissions for missing persons should be put in place little by little.
(*) after the acquittal on appeal for lack of tangible evidence, by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, of Ramush Haradinaj, accused of War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity against Serbs, Roma and Albanian.
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