Ashton invites Dacic and Thaci to Brussels

Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaci will meet in Brussels on Wednesday for another round of the Belgrade-Pristina talks, it has been reported.

(kosovocompromisestuff) Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Serbia's press news agency has said that EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will "most likely attend the meeting."

The new meeting will come at the invitation of Ashton, and she on Tuesday issued the following statement:

"I have invited tomorrow, Wednesday April 17, Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Prime Minister Hashim Thaci for a meeting in Brussels. I have asked them to come in a constructive spirit, ready to explore different options and agree to a mutual compromise."

Earlier in the day, the Belgrade-based daily said that the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina "will continue on Wednesday in Brussels, which was agreed by the three sides yesterday."

The newspaper said it quoted a high-ranking EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, to state that the composition of delegations would be known today but that for now "it is only known that PM Ivica Dacic will go to the negotiations."

According to the article, the participation of his first deputy, Aleksandar Vučić, was "uncertain."

"On the insistence of the international community the Serbian negotiators will come with concrete suggestions," the newspaper quoted its source.

The anonymous official was further cited as saying that "the Serbian side's condition is for the part about Southern (Kosovska) Mitrovica being added to the north to be removed from the agreement," and that there were "realistic chances that this would happen."