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Serbian negotiating team proposes five topics for direct talks

London, 19 September 2007

Serbian Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Slobodan Samardzic said last night in London that the Serbian state negotiating team for talks on the Kosovo-Metohija future status proposed five topics to the troika of envoys to be discussed at direct talks between Belgrade and Pristina, scheduled for September 28 in New York.

Author: Fonet

At a press conference in the Serbian embassy in London following a meeting of the Contact Group’s troika and the Serbian state team, Samardzic said that the first topic is reaching an international agreement on the Kosovo-Metohija future status which would endorse substantial autonomy for the province within Serbia.

According to Minister Samardzic, the second topic would be concrete division of competencies between Serbia and Kosovo-Metohija. Then follow the economic issues, relations between Kosovo-Metohija and international financial organizations and regional initiatives.

The last topic would be the UN-supervised presence of the international community through civilian and military engagements by way of which the implementation of the status resolution would be enabled, said Samardzic.

Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic said that the meeting of the Serbian delegation and the troika of envoys mostly concerned the organisation of a direct meeting of the two sides scheduled for end-September.

According to Jeremic, it was agreed that at the meeting in New York, Belgrade and Pristina delegations should have representatives at the highest level, therefore the Serbian delegation will be headed by President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica.

Jeremic said that the meeting with the troika was a constructive and open dialogue.

We are waiting for the beginning of direct talks in New York with hope and moderate optimism and we believe that a new key stage of the negotiating process will commence, added Jeremic and stressed that only through honest, patient and unlimited talks can the solution for the province’s status be reached, which is a basis and a precondition for the future of the Balkans in the EU towards which all governments in the region strive.

The troika will meet with the Pristina team today and then discuss the results of these consultations with the Contact Group.