Jeremic: Agreement on Sarajevo conference

Jeremic said that the Pristina government will be represented at the regional conference in accordance with Resolution 1244.

"A firm agreement has been reached with the Spanish organizers, which was confirmed for us in a meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, that the format of the eventual participation of the temporary Pristina institutions in Sarajevo will be in accordance with Resolution 1244, with the presence of UNMIK," he said.

He said that the EU-Western Balkans conference is especially important considering the "growing skepticism in some parts of the EU regarding the continuation of the enlargement process" in reaction to the economic crisis.

Jeremic said that Serbia will do everything it can to make sure that the conference is successful, and said that he hopes that Pristina will decide to participate as well.

He said, however, that Serbia will insist that Kosovo will not be able to be represented as an independent state.

"That is our red line legally and politically, the red line that cannot be crosses...Not in Sarajevo, or anywhere else," he said.

Jeremic said that Serbia has analyzed the coming report of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon regarding Kosovo and that Belgrade will be "pointing out all omissions" in the report during today's United Nations Security Council meeting.

"Unfortunately, the situation on the ground has gotten worse since the last report of the Secretary General-mostly in the situation of the Serbs and other non-Albanian residents in the province. We will give details on this at the meeting," he said, adding that the meeting is expected to be very tense, considering that it might be the last one before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gives its opinion on the legality of Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence.

He also said that the decision of the ICJ could come as soon as the summer, which is not ideal since the summer is considered a "dead season" for diplomacy, but added that Serbia would be prepared regardless.

Meanwhile, Serbian President Boris Tadić's cabinet denied reports from Pristina that Tadic would be "heading technical negotiations" with Kosovo Albanian officials.

Tadic's cabinet told Beta news agency in Belgrade that Serbia wants to negotiate the status of Kosovo, and supports negotiations with Pristina regarding technical questions, but that a country's president should not head such talks.

The cabinet also reminded of the fact "there were talks about the implementation of the six-point plan".

The plan was announced by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last year and was cited by Belgrade at the time as its condition to agree to the deployment of the EU mission in Kosovo, EULEX.

Meanwhile the Albanian language media in Pristina are citing unnamed sources, with daily Express writting that "after many consultations with international factors, the Kosovo prime minister (Hashim Thaci) and Serbian president accepted to conduct a new series of negotiations that will be used to solve a series of questions that are blocking cooperation between Kosovo and Serbia".