Nikolic: Platform for further talks on Kosovo soon

A"This (document) should be available to the public as soon as possible. The initial text will come from the Presidency, it will be written by the president, and everyone else will have the right to pass remarks," Nikolic said in an interview for Belgrade TV on Sunday evening.

On the occasion of the European Commission's report on Serbia's progress in the EU integration process, which is to be published next week, Nikolic said that possible requests, which would be unacceptable for Serbia, would complicate the relations with the EU, and probably cause turbulences in Kosovo.

Nikolic said that the ethnic Albanians must give up on thinking that they got a state as Kosovo cannot become a member of the UN, and today even those who have persuaded Albanians that this is possible have realized that Serbia is determined in its intention to defend its interests in Kosovo.

He said that none of the EU leaders and officials has ever said that Serbia has to recognize Kosovo's independence in order to become a member of the EU.

"When you openly confront them and say that independence is out of question, they say that no one is requesting that, but if I remained silent, everyone would insist on that," Nikolic explained.

He underlined that many issues, such as institutions which Serbia support in north Kosovo, have to be settled as part of a comprehensive solution for the Kosovo issue.

Asking where the patience for negotiations has gone now when it is obvious that many issues can be agreed on, Nikolic added that the Serbian government and he are risking a lot, and that he cannot see a problem why an agreement, which could one day be signed, would not be drafted patiently and peacefully.

There are four conditions for the resolution of the Kosovo issue depending on the part of the territory, the president said.
These are parts of Kosovo where there are no Serbs, enclaves populated by Serb majority, land owned by the Serbian Orthodox Church, and north Kosovo, which cannot be treated as other areas, Nikolic explained.


Agreement on neighborly relations out of question

BELGRADE - Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has ruled out the possibility of signing an agreement on normalization of good neighborly relations with Pristina.

"This is out of the question," Nikolic said in a TV B92 broadcast late Sunday when asked whether Belgrade will accept the possible signing of an agreement on normalization of good-neighborly relations with Pristina.

The Serbian president also said he expects that, after his meeting with members of the government, it will be decided who will head Belgrade's team in negotiations with Pristina, and added that he will suggest Prime Minister Ivica Dacic.

Nikolic pointed out that he is ready to take the responsibility himself if the government asks, but that in that case he would certainly not negotiate with (Kosovo PM) Hasim Taci.

The president said that during his recent visit to Brussels, he left a reception once he heard the Kosovo prime minister was there.

It is possible that the person who will lead Serbia's delegation will have to meet with Taci. Since I am the president and the government will not choose me, I will not have to keep saying that I will not shake hands with him because he is suspected of being involved in crimes, Nikolic concluded.