Chairwoman of the German human rights commission: Scholz to put pressure on Serbia to recognize Kosovo

Deutsche Welle: Mrs. Alt You chair the Commission on Human Rights in the German Bundestag and have been for many years a rapporteur for the Western Balkans in the FDP parliamentary group. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will soon visit several countries in the region. How do you assess the human rights situation there?

Renata Alt: Of course, the human rights situation in the Western Balkans must always be kept under observation. There is not enough progress yet, there is not enough reform, even in Serbia human rights are decreasing. Especially in the area of ​​media freedom, control over which has grown massively.

Would you call Serbia an authoritarian regime?

In fact, there are non-governmental organizations that, based on long-term observations, say that Serbia has become a hybrid state or autocracy. And this is worrying, especially when it comes to an EU candidate country.

What are your expectations from the German Chancellor’s visit to the region?

It would be important for Chancellor Scholz, during his visit to Serbia, to put pressure on Aleksandar Vucic and the next government in Serbia and make it clear to them that Serbia should support the European Union sanctions against Russia and clearly condemn war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine. Serbia must end its policy of volatility and decide: does it want to go to Russia or is it really interested in joining the EU?

Such appeals are often made to Mr. Vucic, but he has not changed course so far. On the contrary, Serbia has just concluded a new gas supply agreement with Russia. Why did Germany not react at all to this agreement?

Unfortunately, Germany has made itself very dependent on Russian gas, thanks also to a failed policy by Chancellor Merkel. This is also the case in Serbia. The Serbian government should guarantee citizens warm apartments and houses in winter. But in the long run it makes no sense to ally with Russia and buy weapons from Russia and China. There are also many Russian-owned companies in Serbia. It would be important for these companies or individuals to be included in the sanctions list, as is the case in all other EU countries.

What does Germany have in hand to turn Serbia in the right direction?

It is important to intensify the dialogue. I therefore welcome the Chancellor’s visit to the region. Although the moment seems strange to me, immediately after the signing of the agreement with Russia. I fear that Serbia will use Chancellor Scholz’s visit for a kind of propaganda different from what we would like in Germany. Chancellor Scholz’s visit will be interpreted by the Serbian media as support for Aleksandar Vuiqi.’S policy.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel during her farewell visit to Serbia in September 2021

Also disturbing were the words of President Vuiqi., When he swore after the elections that he would never recognize Kosovo’s independence. It is therefore important that Chancellor Scholz make it clear that Serbia must recognize Kosovo’s independence in order to continue to be considered a serious and credible candidate for EU membership.

I think financial resources can be used as a means of pressure. If Serbia continues its volatile policy and moves further and further away from democracy, I suggest freezing funds and considering suspending EU accession negotiations. Of course, Kosovo should also get closer to Serbia, for example, it is not very wise to prevent the holding of Serbian elections in Kosovo. So both sides have to move towards each other. However, it is important that all Western Balkan countries be given a clear European perspective. It is incomprehensible why Northern Macedonia should not start membership negotiations with the EU, especially after the name change.

The European perspective has also been repeatedly emphasized by former Chancellor Merkel when she traveled to the region. However, there was no movement. What was the reason?

We as the FDP have criticized the foreign policy of the previous government as naive. We demand that clear conditions be communicated. It should be in our interest to have peace in the Western Balkans. Serbia is not only involved in the Kosovo conflict, but also in separatist tendencies in Republika Srpska. We must therefore make it clear that if we want to remain united and have peace and security and respect human rights on the European continent, the candidate countries must also represent our values.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, May 2022

Northern Macedonia is blocked by Bulgaria’s veto. How realistic is it that the opening of negotiations is done by removing the principle of unanimous decision-making in the EU?

Russia’s war against Ukraine changed many things in Europe. Ukraine has also applied for EU membership. Of course, it must be acknowledged that reforms in the candidate countries of the Western Balkans are much more advanced than in Ukraine. And in order for the EU to be able to make enlargement decisions, it must also consider what reforms would be needed and possibly abandon the principle of unanimity.

top channel