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Belgrade remains constructive partner in dialogue with Pristina

Belgrade/Brussels, 24 January 2023

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic said today in Brussels that our commitment is to do everything we can, taking into account national and state interests, in order to continue the European path and harmonised foreign policy with the EU.

Dacic had separate meetings with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, EU Special Representative for Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and other regional issues in the Western Balkans Miroslav Lajcak, EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs Ylva Johansson and Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament David McAllister.

In his address to the journalists, he said that Borrell and Lajcak pointed to the very constructive and responsible role of President of the Republic Aleksandar Vucic, when it comes to the last talks in Belgrade about the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

Borrell and Lajcak underlined Serbia's responsible approach, as well as their desire not to deal with the resolution of the weekly conflicts that take place in Kosovo and Metohija in the coming period, but to try to reach an agreement that would provide stronger guarantees and enable peace and stability in the region, Dacic said.

According to him, high-ranking Brussels officials understood what President Vucic said, which is that Belgrade is ready to work on the foundations and implementation of the proposed plan on the normalisation of relations with Pristina, as well as that there are red lines that will not be crossed, i.e., Kosovo's membership in the UN, as well as the formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities, which should not be disputed.

The First Deputy Prime Minister reiterated that our role will continue to be constructive, because we need peace and stability and to protect national and state interests in such a way.

Speaking about harmonising our foreign policy with the EU policy, he explained that this is not about Serbia's values regarding the relationship between Russia and Ukraine, but about the reflections that the issue of our territorial integrity and sovereignty has when it comes to our position in other international organisations.

Dacic, when it comes to mutual relations between Serbia and the EU, specified that the general conclusion is that operational cooperation should be improved and citizens should be shown positive examples of relations with the Union.

He also said that European Commissioner Johansson positively assessed the harmonisation of Serbia's visa policy with the EU's visa policy, as well as that she announced her imminent arrival in Belgrade and cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior.