Kosovo, Serbia Failing to Implement Normalisation Deal

The failure to implement the agreements negotiated so far is causing continued hardship for both Albanians and Serbs living in Kosovo, says the report published on Tuesday by the BIG DEAL initiative which involves BIRN Kosovo, Internews Kosova and the Advocacy Centre for Democratic Culture from northern Mitrovica.

The report entitled 'BIG DEAL: Split Asunder' says that implementation has been slowed by opposition protests that have paralysed parliament in Kosovo, decisions handed down by Kosovo's Constitutional Court and international crises that have usurped the EU's attention.

"Four-and-a-half years after the start of the dialogue, Kosovo and Serbia still refuse to recognise each other's diplomas," said Valerie Hopkins of BIRN Kosovo, the primary author of the report.

"[Kosovo's] draft law on dealing with the cadastral documents to be returned from Serbia has been blocked for two years, without progress, and Kosovars are not yet using [their own international] dialling code despite the fact that two agreements were signed precisely about that," she said.

Dusan Radakovic from the Advocacy Centre for Democratic Culture said the agreement to integrate parallel Serb judicial institutions into Kosovo's justice system has also stalled, leaving a legal vacuum in the Serb-majority north.

"The judiciary is the cornerstone of any society. We need the court so northern Kosovo can finally stop being a rule of law vacuum. Once this agreement is implemented fully, it would make it easier to implement other agreements," said Radakovic.

However, the report notes that there has been reduction in the fees charged for crossing the border with a vehicle between Kosovo and Serbia since the first BIG DEAL report was published a year ago.

"One...