Talk parallelism and Serb autonomy at same time
Serbia's Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said Tuesday that the parallelism of institutions and autonomy of Serbs in Kosovo should be discussed at the same time in Brussels, in a situation when Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's independence
(kosovocompromisestuff) Wednesday, February 13, 2013
"These issues are on the agenda for the coming rounds of talks and they must be settled at the same time," Dacic told reporters at the celebration of the day of the Academy of Criminalistic and Police Studies in Belgrade.
According to Dacic, the existing institutions in northern Kosovo will not be shut down so as to prevent creating a vacuum before the establishment of institutions that would replace them.
"If we can agree on this - Serbia is ready, if not - Serbia is not ready to work against the interests of its people in Kosovo," added the prime minister.
Dacic said that senior state officials would meet ahead of the resumption of talks with Kosovo's Prime Minister Hasim Taci next week.
"The government has decided to move forward and I am sure this government will leave a very strong mark in the history of Serbia, because are within arm's reach of realizing our goal - joining the EU while defending our state and national interest by peaceful means," said Dacic.
In his opinion, this is an important moment and any instability on the domestic political scene could lead to consequences in the international arena, so it is important that everyone in the country stand united.
"I am not saying we should defend criminals, those who were involved in crime should be held responsible and crime will never rattle this government," said Dacic, adding that one part of the international community advocates a simplistic position that Serbia should dissolve parallel institutions, but the government has a different approach.
He said the Serbian team's approach to the talks is grounded in the government Resolution and the Platform adopted by the national parliament.
The prime minister reiterated that Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's independence, but is prepared to come to an agreement with Kosovo Serbs about which institutions are necessary for them to live normally.
"This will be the topic of very difficult talks. These are not my personal negotiations and it is impossible to win any political points from them," said Dacic.
According to Dacic, the existing institutions in northern Kosovo will not be shut down so as to prevent creating a vacuum before the establishment of institutions that would replace them.
"If we can agree on this - Serbia is ready, if not - Serbia is not ready to work against the interests of its people in Kosovo," added the prime minister.
Dacic said that senior state officials would meet ahead of the resumption of talks with Kosovo's Prime Minister Hasim Taci next week.
"The government has decided to move forward and I am sure this government will leave a very strong mark in the history of Serbia, because are within arm's reach of realizing our goal - joining the EU while defending our state and national interest by peaceful means," said Dacic.
In his opinion, this is an important moment and any instability on the domestic political scene could lead to consequences in the international arena, so it is important that everyone in the country stand united.
"I am not saying we should defend criminals, those who were involved in crime should be held responsible and crime will never rattle this government," said Dacic, adding that one part of the international community advocates a simplistic position that Serbia should dissolve parallel institutions, but the government has a different approach.
He said the Serbian team's approach to the talks is grounded in the government Resolution and the Platform adopted by the national parliament.
The prime minister reiterated that Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's independence, but is prepared to come to an agreement with Kosovo Serbs about which institutions are necessary for them to live normally.
"This will be the topic of very difficult talks. These are not my personal negotiations and it is impossible to win any political points from them," said Dacic.
