Researcher: Belgrade-Pristina agreement in sight

What we know is that a draft version of the agreement has been determined based on the idea of Kosovo's integrity and formation of a kind of association of the Serb municipalities, Ker-Lindsay said for the Belgrade-based daily Danas. The main problem so far was Pristina's fear that the association of Serb municipalities will be guaranteed executive powers like in Republika Srpska (RS), one of the two entities in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH). However, he said that this fear is unfounded since that will not happen. No one has suggested that the association of Serb municipalities should be given greater powers within the Kosovo institutions, he said, adding that this would be a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, there is no understandable reason why the Serb-dominated areas should not be given a high level of autonomy in many fields, Ker-Lindsay underlined. Across Europe, there are many models of successful autonomies, such as South Tyrol and the Oland Islands, which have the freedom to independently organize their everyday life, but do not have the right of veto in terms of the national policy, Ker-Lindsay said. As he put it, Pristina should show greater flexibility regarding the municipalities, particularly because Serbia is no longer mentioning the division of Kosovo. Since Belgrade has showed readiness to talk about autonomy of Serbs instead of division, it should be presented with the most generous offer, he said. Bearing in mind Belgrade's efforts to date, it would be an injustice if Serbia were left short of the starting date for the EU membership talks, Ker-Lindsay underlined.