Stalemate in Serbia-Kosovo relations or small steps towards reconciliation? : Changes of narratives of the politicians from Serbia and Kosovo after signing the Brussels Agreement in 2013
Vučetić, Nataša (2020)
Vučetić, Nataša
2020
Master's Degree Programme in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research
Yhteiskuntatieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2020-05-26
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202005225600
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202005225600
Tiivistelmä
The war in Kosovo and its aftermath has been studied by many researchers, as well as the presence of international missions that have been engaged in peacekeeping and peacebuilding in Kosovo. There has been much emphasis on the institution building and implementation of democratic principles. However, even 20 years after the war, there has not been much research on reconciliation between the two nations engaged in the Kosovo war- Serbs and Albanians.
Therefore, I want to shed light on the topic of reconciliation between Serbs and Kosovo Albanians. This research focuses on a top-down approach to reconciliation and the role of the key political figures in the reconciliation process. The influence of the leaders on the general public is enormous and their statements are extremely important for the improvement of relations of Serbs and Albanians.
The aim of this research is to find out whether politicians have changed their narratives about “the other” since the end of the war and whether they are making small steps towards reconciliation or not. The method that is applied on the collected data is qualitative content analysis. The analysis is divided into three parts according to the certain research periods. First, I focus on the discourse they used in 2005 as a starting point for the comparison of the changes. As a result of the dialogue process between Belgrade and Pristina that started in 2010 the Brussels Agreement was signed in 2013. The importance of that agreement is tremendous for both parties since its purpose is the normalization of relations. Therefore, in the second part of the analysis I am looking at the immediate changes in the narratives of the politicians that happened in one-year period after the signing of the agreement. Finally, I am studying their statements from 2015-2018 in order to find out what are the long-term changes and results of the dialogue process.
The obtained results do not show significant changes in the narratives compared to the 2005 and now, only in 2013 we could notice slight progress and somewhat different topics the politicians were focused on. The reason for that is willingness to show to the international community that the Brussels Agreement had an impact on the improvement of relations. However, after some period of time and inefficient implementation of the agreement, relations have started to deteriorate. They have degraded so much, that by the end of 2018 all forms of dialogue between the parties stopped. Such sequence of events confirms that reconciliation is not a linear process and needs constant dedication of both parties.
If politicians from Serbia and Kosovo want to lead their people towards reconciliation first they have to open a discussion about the past and deconstruct myths and stereotypes. Moreover, they have to work on strategies that would promote reconciliation and abstain from hate speech and accusations of the other side. However, the analysis shows that without reaching the final agreement, the one that would define the status of Kosovo, the chances for improvement of relations are minor.
Therefore, I want to shed light on the topic of reconciliation between Serbs and Kosovo Albanians. This research focuses on a top-down approach to reconciliation and the role of the key political figures in the reconciliation process. The influence of the leaders on the general public is enormous and their statements are extremely important for the improvement of relations of Serbs and Albanians.
The aim of this research is to find out whether politicians have changed their narratives about “the other” since the end of the war and whether they are making small steps towards reconciliation or not. The method that is applied on the collected data is qualitative content analysis. The analysis is divided into three parts according to the certain research periods. First, I focus on the discourse they used in 2005 as a starting point for the comparison of the changes. As a result of the dialogue process between Belgrade and Pristina that started in 2010 the Brussels Agreement was signed in 2013. The importance of that agreement is tremendous for both parties since its purpose is the normalization of relations. Therefore, in the second part of the analysis I am looking at the immediate changes in the narratives of the politicians that happened in one-year period after the signing of the agreement. Finally, I am studying their statements from 2015-2018 in order to find out what are the long-term changes and results of the dialogue process.
The obtained results do not show significant changes in the narratives compared to the 2005 and now, only in 2013 we could notice slight progress and somewhat different topics the politicians were focused on. The reason for that is willingness to show to the international community that the Brussels Agreement had an impact on the improvement of relations. However, after some period of time and inefficient implementation of the agreement, relations have started to deteriorate. They have degraded so much, that by the end of 2018 all forms of dialogue between the parties stopped. Such sequence of events confirms that reconciliation is not a linear process and needs constant dedication of both parties.
If politicians from Serbia and Kosovo want to lead their people towards reconciliation first they have to open a discussion about the past and deconstruct myths and stereotypes. Moreover, they have to work on strategies that would promote reconciliation and abstain from hate speech and accusations of the other side. However, the analysis shows that without reaching the final agreement, the one that would define the status of Kosovo, the chances for improvement of relations are minor.