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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Meeting in Vienna on Kosovo status of consultative nature

Belgrade, 24 August 2007

Serbian Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Slobodan Samardzic said today that Belgrade considers that the upcoming meeting in Vienna will be of a consultative nature and negotiations on the issue of Kosovo status which are very complex cannot possibly end by December 10.

We consider that this is a consultative meeting and real negotiations are not beginning yet, said Samardzic in a statement to the news agency Beta, and added that Belgrade expects that direct negotiations with Kosovo Albanians will begin at a certain point.

He said that the Serbian side was assured by the troika of envoys that negotiations, which need to be prepared carefully, will begin, and we will finally sit together and talk about this very complex subject.

Samardzic stressed that the invitation which reached yesterday does not contain what Belgrade expected. It does not state the agenda, subjects and manner of continuing the negotiations.

He warned that negotiations will not succeed in case the Albanian delegation is still unsure if they will talk directly regarding the status issue.

Such complex negotiations cannot be completed by December 10, when the UN will perhaps be given the first report, said Samardzic, and added that he supposes that negotiations will be continued after that, since it is not possible to reach consensus in such a short period, which is the aim of these negotiations.

He said that Belgrade does not expect that a report could be submitted to the UN if real negotiations are not held at all, and in that sense the December 10 deadline becomes very relative.

Minister Samardzic reiterated that Belgrade is willing to negotiate and said that the consultations in Vienna will contribute to better organisation of negotiations and we will finally move towards the goal we have been trying to achieve for so long.