Belgrade, 14th November – Serbia’s refusal to participate during regional and international meetings where Kosovo is represented by its authorities is unnecessary and damaging for the interests of Serbia. This was the main message from the presentation of the first policy paper of the Research Forum of the European Movement in Serbia (ReF), written by Ms. Tatjana Papic, member of the ReF and professor of law after conducted research and analysis within this EMinS’ novel program body. This document, in Serbian language, is titled Analysis of the Serbian policy on participation at the international meetings where representatives of Kosovo are also present and it was presented at the debate organized by EMinS.
Ms. Papic explained that sitting at the same table with representatives of Kosovo does not mean as well the intention of some state to recognize the independence of some other state.
“Actual Serbian policy – not to participate at the meetings where representatives of Kosovo are present – is unnecessary and damaging. It is unnecessary because Serbia should not be afraid of possibility that by its presence Serbia will recognize the independence of Kosovo, nor that someone will make such interpretation. It is damaging because of the fact that Serbia narrows its maneuver for the realization of its goals in foreign policy”, Ms. Papic said.  
Besides, she stated that Serbian policy is very much often inconsistent. In some cases, she explained, Serbia is conditioning by so called “Gymnich formula” – participation without functions, with only names written in front of the participants – or by presence of UNMIK with the delegation of Kosovo. Still, in some cases representatives of Serbia haven’t participated even though these conditions were fulfilled.
Ms. Papic emphasized two out of six concrete proposals for overcoming this problem written in this policy analysis.
“First, Serbia should discontinue with actual practice of abstaining from the international meetings where representatives of Kosovo are present, bearing in mind the fact that common presence does not imply the recognition of the independence of Kosovo. Second, if Serbia considers that presence at these conferences could lead to the concerns about Serbia’ recognition of Kosovo’s independence, in spite of the fact that rules of international law argue the opposite, Serbia could make a statement by which all of the concerns and uncertainties will be removed”, Ms. Papic said.

Focusing on the importance of the ReF’s work and the significance of this policy paper, Mr. Borislav Stefanovic, Head of the Team of the Government of Serbia for Negotiation with Pristina, said that “it is not in the interests of Serbia not to participate at these meetings, but our interest is also to secure asymmetrical representation of Kosovo”.
“Serbian goal isnot to seek for exclusion of Kosovo or Serbia from regional cooperation and participation at these meetings, but, through dialogue in Brussels, we are trying to find acceptable model for presence of Kosovo at regional forums. We just want to unable attempts and intentions of organizers of those conferences to bring Belgrade into the same level with Pristina”, Mr. Stefanovic explained. He added that this kind of discussions that Research Forum initiates provide support for innovative approaches and ideas within the regional cooperation to be found.
“Regional cooperation is one of the preconditions for the membership of all Western Balkans countries in the European Union. Problems in the region could not be solved without the participation of all parties in the dialogue, including representatives of Kosovo. The public should be better informed about this issue, and therefore, Research Forum will try to encourage public debates and discussions that are needed in order to find the best model”, said Ms. Maja Bobic, Secretary General of EMinS.
Importance of public discussions
Public participation in the policy changing is very important for the EU accession process. Still, discussions in Serbia should be about the acceleration and improvement of the quality of the EU accession process, and not about weather Serbia should be a member of the EU, Mr. Vladimir Pavicevic, president of the Research Forum said.
“With concrete practical policy proposals for solving of these problems, ReF intends to contribute to the creation of the conditions for Serbia to make final strategy of foreign policy. In this way, instead of solving of concrete problems, our foreign policy makes new ones. One of the examples is this question of participation at the international meetings where representatives of Kosovo are also present”, Mr. Pavicevic explained.  
Ms. Milica Delevic, Head of the Serbian European Integration Office, pointed out the significance of warning the public about these problems, especially through promotion of thorough, substantiated and concrete solutions. “In this way, citizens can become familiar with legal and political aspects of these problems. It is unfortunate that this paper has not been previously available to the public”, Ms. Delevic noted.

Welcoming the work of the Research Forum, Sonja Licht, president of the Foreign Policy Council at the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reminded that there is one more significant document that defines three possible models of Serbian foreign policy strategy, also published by European Movement in Serbia. “Citizens of Serbia should have been informed about these problems in Serbian foreign policy much earlier. They should also have been more involved in public discussion. If we had had more quality discussions, than we would not have had much space for principled discussions that do not carry the solution”, Ms. Licht said.
At the end, Vladimir Pavicevic announced that Research Forum will present five more prepared policy proposals based on thorough policy analyses within this EMinS’ body. Next one will deal with the issue of bilateral relations between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
All policy analyses and policy papers of the Research Forum will be published online in Serbian language at the EMinS Internet page.