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A:
Serbs in Kosovo need freedom of movement
Vienna,
14 September 2006
Coordinator of Belgrade’s negotiating team and advisor to Serbian Prime Minister Slobodan Samardzic said tonight that progress in negotiations is possible if the Pristina negotiating team accepts criteria to establish municipalities for returnees and to return the territorial integrity of municipalities in tomorrow’s eighth round of talks in Vienna.
Samardzic said upon his arrival in Vienna that the theme of the talks tomorrow will be forming new municipalities with a Serb majority and their borders.
He said that UN Envoy Marti Ahtisaari spoke on this issue with Kosovo Albanians and they proposed five new municipalities and a special regime for Mitrovica.
According to him, municipalities that they suggested are actually enclaves, unconnected territories, they are very small and do not contain many villages where Serbs live.
We have another suggestion, that is 12 new municipalities and an enlarged Novo Brdo, said Samardzic, noting that tomorrow’s talks will be difficult and serious.
I do not expect the job will be finished, but I think it would be good to make some progress, he said and stressed that it is important to provide space where people will move freely. Serbs in Kosovo cannot move freely, then at least they should be able to move around within their municipalities that would be territorially connected, he said.
The UNOSEK realised that northern Kosovska Mitrovica should be an independent municipality, but the Serbian delegation suggests that it should be united with Zvecan, said Samardzic.
He said that UN Envoy Marti Ahtisaari spoke on this issue with Kosovo Albanians and they proposed five new municipalities and a special regime for Mitrovica.
According to him, municipalities that they suggested are actually enclaves, unconnected territories, they are very small and do not contain many villages where Serbs live.
We have another suggestion, that is 12 new municipalities and an enlarged Novo Brdo, said Samardzic, noting that tomorrow’s talks will be difficult and serious.
I do not expect the job will be finished, but I think it would be good to make some progress, he said and stressed that it is important to provide space where people will move freely. Serbs in Kosovo cannot move freely, then at least they should be able to move around within their municipalities that would be territorially connected, he said.
The UNOSEK realised that northern Kosovska Mitrovica should be an independent municipality, but the Serbian delegation suggests that it should be united with Zvecan, said Samardzic.
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