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The Union of Serbian Municipalities (ZSO) is once again at the negotiating table in Belgrade and Pristina after a long time.
Yesterday, in the talks between the representatives of the two parties, as the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić said, new topics were opened.
– One is the Association of Serbian Municipalities, and the other is the issue of property and financial demands that we emphasize among ourselves – said Vučić.
However, the JCC is by no means a new topic in the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina, but it is one that was ignored by the Pristina authorities, although its formation is foreseen by the first Brussels agreement, which was signed in 2013. .
In the seven years that have passed since the moment it pledged to form a community, the Kosovo side has not come out of the deadlock and, as a justification for not doing so, stated the Kosovo Constitution, and that “it is not the will of the Serbian minority in the country “.
Some of the Pristina leaders said it would never be formed.
– The community is dead. It is a Serbian project in Kosovo and it is not the will of the Serbian minority in the country. There are 132,000 Serbs in Kosovo, why didn’t they find a community? That’s because they don’t want to. They want their rights, not the Serbian projects in Kosovo. Serbia wants to get something out of our country – said former Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti not long ago.
Almost all the representatives of the Pristina authorities made similar statements, from Hashim Thaci, who compared them to the Republika Srpska, through Kadi Veselji, to Ramush Haradinaj.
ZSO was used by Pristina for numerous Belgrade conditions, from asking for an area code, to the fact that it is okay if Kosovo forms its army, and at one point its formation was conditioned by the return of Serbian representatives to Kosovo. institutions.
The unanswered question for now is, will anything finally change after seven years?
What is ZSO?
In December 2015, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo determined that the principles of the Community were not fully harmonized with the Constitution of Kosovo, but, as they added, that could be harmonized by a legal act of the Government of Kosovo and the statute, writes Radio Free Europe.
Based on the decision of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, the agreement on the principles of the Community that does not conform to the Constitution is debatable, especially in the areas related to equality before the law, fundamental rights and freedoms and rights of minority communities and their members.
In fact, it is debatable that the SSO is not based on multiethnic, but rather brings together municipalities in which one ethnic community is the majority.
The Brussels Agreement of 2013, signed with the mediation of the European Union, provides for the establishment of a JCC with a Serbian majority on the basis of a statute whose structure will be established as, for example, in the case of the existing statute of the Association of Municipalities of Kosovo.
According to this structure, the Association will have a president, a vice-president, an assembly … And the right to establish an association, such as ZSO, in order to protect and promote common interests, is provided for in the Kosovo Law of Local Autonomy .
What does the 2013 agreement foresee?
In the first Brussels Agreement of 2013 on the principles governing relations between Kosovo and Serbia, the first six points refer to the Union of Municipalities with a Serb majority.
The agreement establishes that it will be established based on the Statute and that its dissolution may only take place by decision of the participating municipalities.
It is also expected that the participating municipalities have the right to cooperate in the collective implementation of competencies through the Community, and that it will have full supervision in the areas of economic development, education, health, urban planning and rural development.
– The community will have a representative role before the central authorities and for this it will be represented on the community advisory council. To fulfill this function, a follow-up function is foreseen, as established in the sixth point of the 2013 Brussels Agreement.
What does the 2015 agreement foresee?
However, two years later, Belgrade and Pristina signed an agreement on the JCC with the Serbian majority, which harmonized general principles and key elements.
The 2015 agreement consists of 22 points, which specify the legal framework, the objectives, the organizational structure, the relationship with the central authorities, the budget and the support for the Community of Municipalities with a Serbian majority.
It provides for the establishment of the Union of Municipalities with a Serbian majority in accordance with the provisions of the First Agreement, the First Agreement Ratification Law and the laws of Kosovo *.
It is stated that, based on the First Agreement, which recognizes its special character, the Government of Kosovo must adopt a decree that will be directly applicable and will be considered by the Constitutional Court. This Association must be a legal entity defined by the Statute to be adopted by the members of the assembly of the member municipalities.
The strengthening of local democracy is cited as one of the objectives; carry out full supervision for the development of the local economy; conduct full supervision in the field of education; perform full supervision in primary and secondary health and social care; carry out full supervision in the coordination of urban and rural planning; provide services to its members in accordance with the laws of Kosovo;
The community of municipalities with a Serbian majority should have an Assembly, a president representing the community before the central authorities and outside of Kosovo, a vice president, a Council, a Board, an Administration, an Appeals Office, while the seat should be determined by the Statute.
The agreement on the Union of Municipalities with Serbian majority also specifies the relationship with the central authorities.
Among other things, it is stated that the Association promotes the interests of the Serbian community in relation to the central authorities and has the right to propose, in accordance with the laws of Kosovo, amendments to the laws and other regulations that are important to achieve its objectives. .
“The Community shall have the right to initiate or participate in proceedings before the competent courts, including the Constitutional Court, against any act or decision of any institution that affects the exercise of community competence, in accordance with its Statute”.
What did the Constitutional Court determine?
The key issue regarding the establishment of the Union of Serbian-majority Municipalities is the question of its powers.
In December 2015, at the request of the President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo determined that the principles of the Union of Serb-majority Municipalities in Kosovo were not fully in line with the spirit of the Constitution, which refers to the Article 3 on “equality before the law”. “fundamental rights and freedoms” and “rights of communities and their members”.
That decision of the Constitutional Court also determined that the Union of Municipalities with a Serbian majority will be established as foreseen in the first Brussels Agreement, ratified by the Assembly of Kosovo.
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