Pavlović: Serbia-Kosovo agreement has political weight, but is not binding

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - If we follow the practice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia, specifically its stance on the Brussels Agreement, the agreement concluded in the White House is a political agreement, not an international one, says Dejan Pavlović, professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, for Danas.

As Pavlović explained, we should bear in mind that only states and international organizations are subjects of international law, so Mr. Hoti's subjectivity in concluding a legally binding agreement is problematic, because the Republic of Serbia does not recognize Kosovo, Danas reports.

"The legitimate representative of Serbia undertook, on behalf and for the account of the Republic of Serbia, an obligation on the international level to do certain things and refrain from certain actions. It is important to emphasize that the Republic of Serbia has a clear procedure for confirming international treaties (Law on Confirmation and Implementation of International Treaties), by which obligations undertaken on the international level are translated into obligations of domestic law," says Pavlović.

He noted that the National Assembly plays a key role here and reminded that the US was never a member of the League of Nations, even though President Woodrow Wilson gave his consent for membership in Versailles. As he pointed out, Wilson never received the consent of Congress.

"Therefore, the signed document is a political agreement between Serbia and Kosovo, with the USA as a guarantor of the respect of the promises made. It has great political weight, but it does not create an international legal obligation. This agreement cannot be the basis for adopting legally valid bylaws within the legal order of the Republic of Serbia, so the Constitutional Court of RS would be obliged to annul any regulation that would implement the obligations undertaken by the President of Serbia on this occasion," concluded Professor Pavlović.