Brussels – While some movement is finally under way, much remains uncertain and opaque. After nearly two years of “temporary and reversible” EU measures against Kosovo, the European Commission has now “started working on a gradual, conditional and reversible lifting of the measures,” a spokesperson confirmed to The New Union Post.
That is all we know, as the Commission declined to clarify which specific measures are being lifted, the conditions attached, or the expected timeline. This lack of transparency has prompted scepticism in the European Parliament. Speaking to The New Union Post, Riho Terras, the European Parliament’s rapporteur for Kosovo, warned that “the proposal for a gradual lifting of the measures is insufficient. They should be fully revoked — and immediately.”
As outlined in the report adopted during the plenary session on 7 May, MEPs hold the position that “punitive measures must be ended without delay,” Terras added, stressing that such “unfair treatment” undermines the EU’s efforts to restore the Belgrade–Pristina dialogue. On the one hand, Pristina “has fulfilled the EU requirements, and has demonstrated commitment to European values and policies.” On the other, “in a situation where Serbia’s behaviour has not been sanctioned by any measures,” the Estonian MEP noted, it is “totally unacceptable” that they have been applied to Kosovo, as they were “unfair and unnecessary from the beginning.”
What are the EU “temporary and reversible” measures
On 28 June 2023, the European Commission adopted “temporary and reversible” measures against Kosovo in response to the “lack of cooperation” by the authorities in Pristina, following escalating tensions with neighbouring Serbia in northern Kosovo.
For the past two years, the EU has suspended both the functioning of the bodies established under the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, launched in 2016, and all bilateral visits—except those conducted within the framework of the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. On the diplomatic front, Kosovo representatives have not been invited to high-level events.
Financial measures have also been significant: funding under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) has been frozen, and proposals submitted by Pristina through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) were not tabled at the Management Board meeting.
Two years of escalating tensions in norther Kosovo
A major crisis between Serbia and Kosovo has been ongoing for two years in northern Kosovo. In May 2023, protests against the newly elected mayors in Zubin Potok, Zvečan, Leposavić, and Kosovska Mitrovica turned into a sort of guerrilla conflict involving NATO-led KFOR soldiers. Furthermore, three Kosovan police officers were arrested by Serbian security forces in June. An emergency meeting with Kosovan Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić was convened in Brussels.
The situation further deteriorated with a terrorist attack near the Serbian Orthodox Banjska Monastery on 24 September 2023. A day of clashes between Kosovan police forces and a group of around 30 armed men left one officer and three attackers dead. One of the attackers was Milan Radoičić, deputy leader of the Serb List party, who later confirmed his involvement. Links to Belgrade emerged, while the U.S. denounced a “large military build-up” by Serbia near the administrative border.
After the resolution of the ‘car plate dispute’, thanks to mutual recognition for vehicles entering the border between December 2023 and January 2024, Kosovo’s enforcement of the euro as the sole legal tender since 1 February 2024 disrupted public services in northern Kosovo resisting currency regulations introduced in 2002. Belgrade continues to pay salaries, pensions, and benefits in dinars to many ethnic Serbs in the region, while Pristina pushes for complete sovereignty over northern Kosovo.
At the heart of the dispute lies the unresolved establishment of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo. Relations between the two countries—engaged since 2011 in the EU-mediated diplomatic process—have reached one of their lowest points, despite 12 hours of talks in Ohrid (North Macedonia) on 18 March 2023. While an implementation annex to the Brussels Agreement was approved in principle—outlining the specific commitments for Serbia and Kosovo—no formal signatures were secured. Both Belgrade and Pristina have made little progress in honouring their commitments, as the EU-facilitated dialogue continues to struggle, even with a new EU Special Representative, Danish diplomat Peter Sørensen.
