Gov't does not plan abolition of Serb institutions

“That is absolutely wrong interpretation of anything that the government is intending to do. The Serbian government, that is I, as the man who is talking directly and heading the dialogue, will adhere to the Constitution, i.e. the Platform of the Serbian parliament. I do not know whether people have read that Platform, whether anyone has got into the essence of Serbia's proposal,” Dacic said on Friday evening. In a live broadcast on the Belgrade-based TV Pink, Dacic said that the proposal does not mean that Serbia should dismantle its institutions and force Serbs to accept Pristina's institutions. He underscored that in the talks with Pristina, the efforts are being made to define autonomy, i.e. a community of Serb municipalities in Kosovo. “We are requesting that a community of Serb municipalities be formed in Kosovo which would have clear jurisdiction in certain domains. The most important ones are education, courts of first and second instance, local police, which would certainly have to have certain relations with Pristina authorities, but also with Belgrade,” the prime minister said. According to Dacic, that would be autonomy within autonomy, and that would be a topic of the talks, but whether Pristina would accept that - that is a big question. He underlined that the situation is very difficult and that Serbia is losing its sovereignty and basic elements of statehood in Kosovo every day, but that the Platform clearly states that Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's independence, and will not do that. Even if we put Germany aside, there are certain circles in the international community that deem that Serbia should be pressured now as it cares about whether it would get a starting date for the EU entry talks, so it would maybe agree to more concessions than in some other period, he stressed. “I think that it is an entirely wrong approach. For the dialogue to progress successfully, good news is needed, and not pressures of bad news. That is the reason why that would be the killing of the dialogue, and not contribution to it to yield results,” Dacic said. He noted that Serbia is seeking a sustainable solution for Kosovo that would ensure that Serbia does not have to recognize Kosovo's independence, but on the other hand clearly define the position of Serb people and way in which they would be able to organize their political life.