Serbia’s substantial autonomy proposal to be discussed in Brussels on October 14
Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said on Wednesday that Serbia's negotiating team would present the Pristina team with an essential autonomy plan at the next talks in Brussels, scheduled for October 14.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Thursday, October 04, 2007
"This will be the first time that we will have an opportunity to debate the various aspects of our plan in an interactive discussion with the Pristina side," Jeremic said.
He stressed it is important that Belgrade and Pristina "pledged not to resort to violence."
In Jeremic's words, Pristina agreed to the agenda, which constitutes "a major step forward."
"During our recent meeting in New York, progress has been made, as both sides explicitly committed themselves not to resort to either violence or threats of violence," said the foreign minister, adding that Serbia "never has nor will it ever make such threats."
"I believe that one of the major victories of our diplomatic presentation in New York at this stage of the talks is that, in the end, we made a joint commitment to exclude violence as a parameter in negotiations," Jeremic explained.
"A fundamental difference between the talks mediated by Martti Ahtissari and those guided by the Contact Group Troika is that now, both sides' proposals have been put on the table and that, for the first time, Serbia's plan for substantial autonomy has been given a chance to be discussed," he added.
The minister said that Serbia believed Pristina should be given some 95 percent of the management of Kosovo affairs.
The minister went on to say that he expected the Serbian team to receive a response from the Kosovo Albanians to the proposal for the first time in direct talks.
Minister Jeremic is meeting top Council of Europe officials in Strasbourg Thursday, and is adressing representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Commenting on a statement of the Pristina team spokesman Skender Hyseni that an agreement on "good neighborly relations and a friendship treaty" with Serbia would serve as basis of the Kosovo Albanian position throughout the talks, Jeremic reiterated that "regardless of all the announcements, the agenda for the Brussels meeting has been agreed on by both sides."
