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Belgrade, Pristina authorities begin third round of negotiations in Vienna
Belgrade/Vienna,
3 April 2006
Delegations from Belgrade and Pristina began today the third round of talks on the decentralisation in Kosovo-Metohija. The talks are taking place in the Auersperg Palace in Vienna.
Aleksandar Simic, left, and Slobodan Samardzic, members of the Serbian team for political talks on the future status of Kosovo-Metohija
Author:
AP
The focus of the third round is a document composed by the Office of UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for negotiations on the future status of Kosovo-Metohija Martti Ahtisaari and is based on the first two negotiation rounds.
Members of the Serbian team for political talks on the future status of Kosovo-Metohija met today with Ahtisaari before the beginning of talks and told him of their displeasure with this document, which was composed by international mediators for this round of negotiations.
Member of the team and Advisor to the Serbian President Aleksandar Simic said that Ahtisaari was told that the document "is not in line with the conclusions of the previous two meetings".
According to Simic, the document also contains some issues that had not been discussed at all, but it does not comprise "any significant progress" that Pristina was expected to make.
"In this sense, we have recalled that it is an unusual practice that a mediator goes to Pristina first and discusses the document with Albanian representatives and then does not come to Belgrade. It is also not good to talk with Serb representatives, such as representatives of municipalities… who have neither a state and political mandate nor the legitimacy to discuss such a document", stressed Simic.
He added that Ahtisaari did not give a convincing enough explanation in response to the objections put forward by the Serbian team.
Simic said that new municipalities and municipality borders will be most likely discussed on April 28.
On April 1, the Serbian team announced the preparations for the third round of talks on the decentralisation of Kosovo-Metohija.
Members of the Serbian team for political talks on the future status of Kosovo-Metohija met today with Ahtisaari before the beginning of talks and told him of their displeasure with this document, which was composed by international mediators for this round of negotiations.
Member of the team and Advisor to the Serbian President Aleksandar Simic said that Ahtisaari was told that the document "is not in line with the conclusions of the previous two meetings".
According to Simic, the document also contains some issues that had not been discussed at all, but it does not comprise "any significant progress" that Pristina was expected to make.
"In this sense, we have recalled that it is an unusual practice that a mediator goes to Pristina first and discusses the document with Albanian representatives and then does not come to Belgrade. It is also not good to talk with Serb representatives, such as representatives of municipalities… who have neither a state and political mandate nor the legitimacy to discuss such a document", stressed Simic.
He added that Ahtisaari did not give a convincing enough explanation in response to the objections put forward by the Serbian team.
Simic said that new municipalities and municipality borders will be most likely discussed on April 28.
On April 1, the Serbian team announced the preparations for the third round of talks on the decentralisation of Kosovo-Metohija.
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