Still no confirmation that the dialogue on Kosovo will start on December 18
The EU officials still cannot confirm claims of some Serbian media that the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina will start on December 18, immediately after the parliamentary elections in Kosovo.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Thursday, December 02, 2010
At this point, I cannot confirm the date when the dialogue is to commence - said Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Catherine Ashton.
Citing sources in Brussels, the Belgrade Press Daily has announced today that over the past few weeks, officials of the Union and the five most influential European countries exerted a lot of pressure on the interim authorities in Pristina to start negotiations before the elections scheduled for December 12.
According to the Daily, Prime Minister Hasim Taci opposes this adding that it would harm his election campaign. The Press writes that there is no doubt that the Belgrade-Pristina negotiations will begin immediately after the elections, and that the EU proposed that the dialogue commence on December 18.
However, the dialogue might be delayed for a few weeks if the election result is uncertain - the Daily says. Serbian media have previously reported that the official Belgrade negotiating team will be headed by Borko Stefanovic, Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
