The 2013 Agreement between Kosovo and Serbia

226 Pages·2013·1.38 MB·English

Study Group Information

Ernst M. Felberbauer
Predrag Jureković (Eds.)

Regional Co-operation and
Reconciliation
in the Aftermath
of the ICTY Verdicts:
Continuation or Stalemate?

26th Workshop of the PfP Consortium Study Group
“Regional Stability in South East Europe”

Vienna, August 2013
Imprint:

Copyright, Production, Publisher:
Republic of Austria / Federal Ministry of Defence and Sports
Rossauer Lände 1
1090 Vienna, Austria

Edited by:
National Defence Academy
Command
Stiftgasse 2a
1070 Vienna, Austria

in co-operation with:
PfP Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

Study Group Information

Copyright:
© Republic of Austria / Federal Ministry of Defence and Sports
All rights reserved

September 2013

ISBN 978-3-902944-20-7

Printing:
HDruckZ
Stiftgasse 2a
1070 Vienna, Austria
2
Table of Contents

Foreword
Ernst M. Felberbauer and Predrag Jureković 9
Opening Remarks
Erich Csitkovits 13
PART I
THE FRAGILITY OF JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION:
REPERCUSSIONS OF THE ICTY VERDICTS 17
Perspectives for Transitional Justice and Reconciliation
Jelena Subotić 19
Perspectives for Normalization in Croatia and other
Post-Yugoslav Countries in the Aftermath of ICTY Verdicts
Vesna Teršelič 37
A Troubled Relationship: The ICTY and Post-Conflict
Reconciliation
Nena Tromp 47
PART II
CONCRETE IMPACTS OF THE RECONCILIATION ISSUE
ON REGIONAL COOPERATION AND THE
“EUROPEANIZATION” AGENDA 67
The Complex Relationship between Transitional Justice and
Regional Peacebuilding: The ICTY’s Challenge for Reconciliation
and Conflict Transformation in the Post-Yugoslav Balkans
Dennis J.D. Sandole 69
RECOM – A Regional Initiative for Supporting Reconciliation
Nenad Golčevski 97
Regional Co-operation towards EU Integration
Ivis Noçka 105
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PART III
RECONCILIATION, COOPERATION AND
EUROPEAN INTEGRATION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE
KOSOVO AND SOUTH SERBIA ISSUE 109
KFOR: Contributing to Security and Accommodating Change
Leonid Graf von Keyserlingk 111
The 2013 Agreement between Kosovo and Serbia:
A Success Story or a Missed Opportunity?
Krenar Gashi 123
PART IV
RECONCILIATION, COOPERATION AND
EUROPEAN INTEGRATION: DEVELOPMENTS IN
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, MACEDONIA,
MONTENEGRO AND ALBANIA 135
Reconciliation, Cooperation and European Integration:
Developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Johannes Viereck 137
Is the Republic of Macedonia ‘Waiting for Godot’?
Dennis Blease 147
Reconciliation, Cooperation and European Integration:
Current Developments in Macedonia
Aleksandar Spasov 173
Reconciliation, Cooperation and European Integration:
Developments in the Western Balkans and in Particular
in Montenegro
Daliborka Uljarević 183
Albania: Political and Economic Challenges in the Context of
European Integration and Regional Co-operation
Andi Balla 197
Final Farewell Remarks
Johann Pucher 209
4
PART V
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS 215
Policy Recommendations
Predrag Jureković 217
List of Authors and Editors 225

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This volume of the
Study Group Information Series
is dedicated to

Major-General
Johann Pucher

Security Policy Director of the
Austrian Ministry of Defence
2008 – 2013

7

Foreword

Ernst M. Felberbauer and Predrag Jureković

The 26th workshop of the Study Group Regional Stability in South East
Europe (RSSEE) was convened from 02 to 04 May 2013 at Château
Rothschild, Reichenau/Austria. Under the overarching title of “Regional
Co-operation and Reconciliation in the Aftermath of the ICTY Verdicts:
Continuation or Stalemate?”, 46 experts from the South East European
region, the International Community and major stakeholder nations met
under the umbrella of the PfP Consortium of Defence Academies and
Security Studies Institutes and the Austrian Ministry of Defence and
Sports, represented through its National Defence Academy and the Di-
rectorate General for Security Policy.

Transitional Justice (TJ) according to the definition of the International
Center for Transitional Justice “refers to the set of judicial and non-
judicial measures that have been implemented by different countries in
order to redress the legacies of massive human rights abuses. These
measures include criminal prosecutions, truth commissions, reparations
programs, and various kinds of institutional reforms.” Most of the fac-
tors which are involved in peace-building processes regard TJ as an im-
portant condition for reconciling former war/conflict parties and for
starting a new chapter in the mutual relations. In the context of the proc-
esses of conflict transformation in South East Europe, the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has intended to
play a relevant role in bringing justice and compensation to the victims
of the previous wars.

This aim has been challenged by the numerous critics of the ICTY, in
particular in Serbia. They have accused the tribunal for its sentences
which would have been influenced rather by political than legal factors.
Further, the criminal tribunal in The Hague has been blamed to practice
“selective justice”. Contrary opinions stress the fact that the re-
establishment of regional co-operation would be much more difficult if
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the ones who were most responsible for war crimes on the political and
military side wouldn’t be called to account. In particular in Bosnia and
Herzegovina the detention of war criminals has enabled the return of
expellees. Many victims and families of victims – but not all of them –
achieved moral compensation for sustained torture through the verdicts
of the ICTY. Finally, the regional prosecution of war criminals for the
advocacies of the ICTY has been a direct consequence of the existence
of the UN tribunal.

Several verdicts of the ICTY which were decided in late 2012 and early
2013, in particular in the cases of Gotovina/Markač, Haradinaj and
Perišić, led to new controversies in the region about the past wars, the
issue of justice and the conditions for regional reconciliation. Although
there have not been tremendous repercussions of the recent ICTY ver-
dicts on regional stabilisation so far, the question arose whether sus-
tained regional cooperation is possible without overcoming the legacy of
the past wars. It is obvious that from the angle of “ordinary citizens” in
South East Europe the issue of implementing EU conditions and gener-
ally their attitude towards EU and NATO integration policies is strongly
influenced by and linked to the progress in regional relations and recon-
ciliation. Both – Euro-Atlantic integration processes as well as regional
relations – still go through turbulent and sometimes regressive phases in
South East Europe.

In order to enhance regional cooperation and to deal in a constructive
manner with the still unfinished processes of state- and institution-
building in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, the unstable security situa-
tion in the northern part of Kosovo and the fragile interethnic relations in
Southern Serbia and Macedonia a positive attitude in the region towards
peace-building and stabilisation is necessary. Otherwise nationalistic
setbacks could put into question some of the positive steps the region has
already achieved.

The following key questions constituted the framework of discussion
and debate during the workshop and thus also structure the contributions
from the four panels in the following pages:

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