The latest round of escalations between Serbia and Kosovo does not seem to be calming down. Despite calls for de-escalation, unprecedented levels of criticism towards the Kosovo government, and measures adopted by the EU, the situation on the ground is not improving. How did we get here, and what are the real causes of these escalation? Has the EU been an effective mediator and how successful has the EU been in leading the normalisation talks? Most importantly, how do we get out of this political conundrum and prevent escalations going forward? These are only some of the questions that we plan to address in our urgent panel on this pressing topic.

The Henry Jackson Society is pleased to welcome you to a discussion on the current escalation in relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

This photo is a property of https://worldfellows.yale.edu/person/ilir-dugolli/

H.E. Mr Ilir Dugolli currently serves as Ambassador of Kosovo to the United States. He has previously served as Ambassador to Turkey (with non-resident accreditations to Pakistan, Jordan and Afghanistan), as Ambassador to Sweden (with non-resident accreditations to Norway, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia), and as Ambassador in Brussels (in charge of relations with Belgium, Luxembourg, NATO and EU). He also served as Director for NATO and Security Policies at Kosovo’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before joining diplomatic service he was affiliated with the University of Prishtina Law School and a number of civil society initiatives.

This photo is a property of Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in the USA (mfa.gov.rs)

H.E. Mr Marko Djuric is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Serbia to the United States of America. Prior to this appointment, Mr Djuric was Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. In June 2012 he was appointed as Foreign Policy Adviser to the President of the Republic of Serbia, coordinating top officials’ activities regarding the international reaction to the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, and the preparation of a official Serbian platform for Belgrade-Pristina negotiations in 2012. Many of his important duties had also involved daily diplomatic communication and strategic policy planning. Before this appointment, Mr Djuric was a researcher at the Belgrade Institute for Political Studies. He has been a member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) since its foundation in 2008, and previously had not been a member of any party. He sits on the Main Board and Presidency of the SNS.  Mr Djuric was born and educated in Belgrade.

Dr Helena Ivanov is an associate research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society.  She recently completed a PhD in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research focuses on the relationship between propaganda and violence against civilians. In her thesis, Helena examined the role propaganda played during the Yugoslav Wars and produced a model for studying propaganda which details the key phases, functions, discourses, and techniques of propaganda (the model itself is applicable to other contexts). Additionally, Helena also served as a Manager at the Centre for International Studies at the LSE.

Prior to her PhD, Helena completed an MPhil in Political Theory at the University of Oxford, and holds a BA in Politics from the University of Belgrade.

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EVENT SUMMARY

The Henry Jackson Society was pleased to welcome H.E. Marko Djuric and H.E. Ilir Dugolli to discuss recent escalations in the north of Kosovo. H.E Dugolli began the discussion by characterizing the detention of the Kosovan officers as a “forcible abduction”. He further condemned Serbia’s “normalization of force and threats against Kosovo”. In response, H.E Djuric justified Serbia’s action by pointing to Kosovan authorities’ increased police presence in northern municipalities. He emphasized that the authorities were contradicting Article Nine of the Brussels agreement and not allowing for proportional ethnic structures in the North. He explained that Kosovan Serbs were finding administrative crackdowns on license plates to be “unbearable” as it was restricting the import of supplies to stores and hospitals. Djuric stated he believed that the special police presence should be condemned and withdrawn. Dugolli countered by saying that Article Nine “does not stipulate what happens when an autocratic regime ill advises or intimidates people to walk out, and then to stay out of the institutions.” Djuric then refuted the claim that there are criminal groups of Serbs operating the North, and reiterated that he would like to see a resumption of dialogue and a release of “political prisoners”. Dugolli disputed the claim that Kosovo was holding any political prisoners. The two men concluded that there was a need for significant improvement in Albanian-Serbian relations.