Belgrade and Unmik continue talks
Serbian Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic is pursuing on Monday talks with Unmik officials on the return of Serbs to the Kosovo police and the return of judicial organs to northern Kosovo
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Monday, August 25, 2008
The meeting will mark a continuation of the dialogue between the UNMIK chief and Serbian government representatives.
Bogdanovic announced that he will convey the Serbian govenment stand and the stand of Serbs who left the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) that they can return only provided that they are placed under the command of trhe international police.
During the first two rounds of talks, held in Belgrade and in Pristina, Bogdanovic and Unmik chief Lamberto Zannier discussed the police and the judiciary, but the agendas of the following meetings will include also customs, transportation, the protection of cultural and religious monuments, and other issues listed by United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon when he approved the beginning of the reconfiguration of UNMIK.
Bogdanovic has promised that the state of Serbia will do all in its power so as to improve the very difficult position the Serbs in the southern Serbian province are in.
"The situation in entire Kosmet is very bad in all fields, and Serbs in the northern part are in a somewhat better situation because they have a greater freedom of movement. We will do all we can so as to improve their material situation and to make it possible for the Serbs to live like all other human beings," he said.
Bogdanovic reiterated that Serbian authorities would never recognise the independence of Kosovo or accept the presence of the EU Mission (EULEX) without an approval of the UN Security Council.
"We want to be a constructive partner, even the more so because we are looking forward to being integrated into the EU. However, we insist on that that the presence of the EU Mission in Kosovo be internationally harmonised, and that it be not used at the SC for the implementation of the unaccepted Martti Ahtisaari plan," he said.
According to him, for the Serbian government and the Serbs in Kosovo, UNMIK is the only legitimate mission, which is in keeping with international law and UN Security Council Resolution 1244.
