It’s Time an Election in Kosovo Brought Real Solutions

This is not likely to happen even if we do get rid of the tariff. Our country's priorities are of a different nature. There is no quick fix or magic solution to Kosovo's ills. Our European path will only open up when living in Kosovo is more European - with clean water and a functioning sewage system available to all citizens at the least. In a 21st-century Europe, we live in a country where around 25 per cent of the population still does not yet have access to clean drinking water, while about 45 per cent of the population has no functional sewage system. This is why the EU-led dialogue with Serbia is not at the top of the agenda for ordinary citizens. Neither is the tariff.

In a survey conducted by the National Democratic Institute, NDI, in March 2019, less than 10 per cent of citizens listed the dialogue with Serbia as a priority. In fact, the more time politicians have spent signing agreements with Serbia, the more people have left Kosovo for a better life elsewhere. Kosovo has signed over 20 agreements with Serbia since the process began in 2011 - few of which have been fully implemented. Over that period, more than 20 per cent of Kosovo's population has left because of the lack of economic opportunities and the struggling education and health systems.

It is not Serbia that is to blame for this. It is the inability of our own politicians to simultaneously manage the dialogue and build a functioning state that is to blame. Even if Kosovo signs another "legally binding" agreement with Serbia, it is unlikely to alter our daily life. This is why, when we ask Kosovo citizens about their priorities in these elections, none of them answer that a (non)binding agreement is urgent, or at the top of their list. There is a darker side to this story, too. The...