FAZ: Student List Program for Kosovo Could Incite Conflict and Isolate Serbia

The German newspaper "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" writes that the Student List's foreign policy program in Serbia continues Aleksandar Vučić's nationalist line, especially in relation to Kosovo, and that its implementation could cause conflicts in the region.

The German newspaper's correspondent, Michael Martens, in an analysis published on Wednesday, assesses that foreign policy did not play a significant role in the Student List's election campaign, but that the new Serbian government will soon face sensitive issues in this area.

According to Martens, the student movement's program does not promise a fundamental change in relations with its neighbors, as, on key issues, it continues the approach of Serbian nationalism of Vučić and the Serbian Progressive Party. He describes the program as a document aimed at going backwards and warns that its implementation would incite conflicts in the region.

A significant part of the analysis is devoted to Kosovo. Martens writes that the Student List's opposition to Kosovo's independence is not surprising, as this position is also included in the preamble to the Serbian Constitution. However, according to him, the program goes further, not treating Kosovo's statehood as an established reality.

In its program, the Student List declares that it will fight to keep Kosovo within Serbia and that it will oppose its independence, which it considers to have been declared unilaterally. It also opposes Kosovo's membership in international organizations.

Martens questions how these goals could be achieved, noting that the program's wording creates the impression that Belgrade intends to exercise decision-making authority in the territory of Kosovo, without agreement with its institutions. According to the analysis, such a claim could only be realized through conflict.

The newspaper also touches on the agreement on the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, reached in 2023 with the mediation of the European Union. The Student List program states that responsible representatives of the regime will be prosecuted for possible offenses related to the signing and implementation of agreements that the movement considers unconstitutional and detrimental to Serbia.

According to Martens, this stance raises questions about whether the movement aims to undo the achievements so far in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue and further oppose the consolidation of Kosovo's statehood.

In foreign policy, the Student List also expresses support for the traditional partnership with Russia and opposes the imposition of sanctions against it. The program also foresees the expansion of the strategic partnership with China, especially in infrastructure and investments in advanced technologies.

Martens links this orientation to the movement's stance on Kosovo, highlighting the importance the program attaches to cooperation with Moscow in resolving open issues of common interest.

The analysis also addresses the Student List's stance on the war in Gaza. The movement states that Serbia should not become complicit in what it describes as a systematic attempt to exterminate the Palestinian people. Martens, however, questions the sustainability of this stance, comparing it to what he describes as the movement's silence on crimes committed during the wars of the 1990s.

He mentions, among other things, the lack of reaction to the burial of Ratko Mladić with military honors and the silence on the anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, while noting that the movement organized a nationalist rally on the anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo.

In conclusion, Martens emphasizes that an election program does not necessarily translate into state policy and that coming to power may force the Student List to show more pragmatism.

However, he warns that, if the program is implemented in foreign policy, Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo and the majority of the population in Bosnia and Herzegovina would have to coordinate their positions vis-à-vis Serbia.

According to the conclusion of the analysis by the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung", such a policy would not liberate Serbia, but would push it towards isolation.

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