Belgrade "ready for dialogue with Pristina"
Belgrade is fully ready to begin dialogue with Pristina, Serbian Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic stated.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Serbia would "modify its negotiation approach depending on the format of the talks," Bogdanovic told daily Politika, but he could not specify the date the talks would begin or the topics that would be discussed.
"The resolution has just been adopted and it would not be serious to make estimates now. There is a usual sequence of activities and preparation procedures for such important events. I understand the public's impatience, but you have to understand that preparations for the dialogue have not started yet," said Bogdanovic.
Bogdanovic said that it is important that the resolution has opened the doors for the dialogue, and it also does not provide any excuses to the Kosovo Albanians for avoiding negotiations.
Unlike Kosovo Albanian Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, who has stated that he finds it unacceptable to have the problems in the north of Kosovo become the topic of future talks because it is an "internal affair" of Kosovo, Bogdanovic believes that dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is a way to solve such issues.
"We have always urged dialogue on all outstanding issues, with the status and improvement of living conditions for the Kosovo Serbs being the most important ones," said Bogdanovic, adding that dialogue is the only way to reduce tension and to find a lasting and mutually acceptable solution.
He said that the European Union will have a central role in the future dialogue, but that without the experience and influence of the United Nations, Russia and the United States, it is difficult to imagine a stable running of the already complicated and complex process.