Ambassador: Some elements of Belgian constitutional model interesting for Kosovo

In an interview with Beta news agency, Adam said that there was a positive development in terms of improving election conditions in Serbia but he expressed regret over the widespread hate speech in Serbian politics. He called on all actors not to attack their opponents on a personal level but over the policies they propose.

He assessed that Serbia made some progress on its European path, especially in the justice sector. He also stressed that “a lot of work remains” in order to achieve independence in the judiciary.

Asked about the German-speaking community in the eastern Belgium and the media speculation that the EU could propose the model as a solution for the Union of the Serb Municipalities in Kosovo, Adam said his country has a very specific constitutional system, parts or procedures of which “might to serve as inspiration for problems elsewhere in the world.”

"During my career, I explained to all my interlocutors that Belgium is a country that exports many things, but not its constitutional model. We have a rather sophisticated model of constitutional engineering, designed to offer solutions to Belgium's problems. It is not something you can copy to another situation,” the ambassador said.

He also noted that Belgium supports the efforts of the EU and its special representative for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Miroslav Lajcak, “to bring both sides closer to the set goal, a legally binding comprehensive agreement that would lead to the normalisation of relations.”

“I will not intentionally answer your question whether the Belgian model is applicable to Kosovo, it is up to Mr. Lajcak and all partners in the dialogue to decide, but I can say that some elements may be interesting to consider,” Adam said.
Asked to assess the election conditions in Serbia, Adam said that “overall, there is a positive development,” that it is good that an agreement was reached between the participants in the inter-party dialogue in Serbia, which contains 16 recommendations, but expressed regret that it has been “applied late,” just ahead of the elections.