Tadic: Belgrade ready for talks on concrete issues

Serbian President Boris Tadic said on Tuesday that Belgrade was ready for talks on concrete problems in Kosovo, provided that they did not bring into question the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia.

(KosovoCompromise Staff) Wednesday, February 04, 2009

"We are also willing to meet with the legitimate representatives of the (ethnic) Albanians and discuss with them the matters that are of vital importance, but all these issues are not to  bring into question Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty over Kosovo and Metohija," Tadic said.         

"We are completely open to all talks that will observe these principles," Tadic told a news conference.

The representatives of international presence in Kosovo, UNMIK chief Lamberto Zannier, European Union High Representative for Kosovo Pieter Feith and EULEX Chief Ives de Kermabon will propose a top-level meeting with Serbian authorities on issues that are of mutual interest for both Kosovo and Serbia, the BBC Albanian-language programme reprted on Monday.
 

Serbia is ready to talk about practical issues regarding life in Kosovo as long as discussions do not touch on Kosovo's declaration of independence, Serbian President Boris Tadic said on Tuesday, indicating Belgrade would only accept the United Nations mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, not the ethnic Albanian government in Pristina, as interlocutors.

"If UNMIK is the institution that goes towards Serbia's state authorities, we are ready to negotiate," Tadic told a meeting of his Democratic Party.

"We are always ready to speak with the legitimate representatives of the Kosovo Albanians about all key, daily life issues concerning not only Albanians, but also Serbs and other non-Albanians who live in Kosovo. But these issues must not question Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty," he said.

The statement echoes Belgrade's official position that UNMIK is the main legitimate authority in Kosovo according to UN Resolution 1244 that ended the 1998-99 war between Serb forces and ethnic Albanian guerrillas. The territory declared independence last February, but Belgrade said it will never recognise the secession and still considers Kosovo as its southern province.