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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Belgrade wants agreement in dialogue with Pristina

Belgrade, 20 February 2012

Head of the Serbian government’s team for dialogue with Pristina Borislav Stefanovic said today that his team leaves for Brussels to tomorrow’s talks with the delegation from Pristina with the intention to reach an agreement regarding regional representation of Kosovo on the basis of the asymmetrical model.

Borislav Stefanovic

Stefanovic said at a press conference held after the talks with Danish Minister for European Affairs Nicolai Wammen that reference to UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the opinion of the International Court of Justice can be a good basis for the agreement between the two sides, but without mentioning the Declaration of Independence of Kosovo.

The Head of the Serbian government’s team for dialogue with Pristina explained that the asymmetrical solution entails Pristina’s participation in regional organisations and at conferences, but not as an independent state.

Pristina should be in regional organisations and her voice should be heard, but not as an independent state, Stefanovic reiterated.

He added, however, that there are no signs that Pristina is getting closer to a compromise, but also that the international community has a more positive view of Belgrade's position.

The letter in which Pristina urges the EU not to grant Serbia the candidate status is a failed and harmful attempt that did not contribute to a positive atmosphere in the negotiations.

The decision regarding the European integration is made by Brussels and EU member states and Pristina cannot veto this process, Stefanovic concluded.

Today’s meeting with the Minister for European Affairs of Denmark, which presides over the EU, was constructive and meaningful, and the topics included dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and reforms on the European integration road, he said.

It is important to let know everyone, and especially the country holding the EU presidency, about our position, Stefanovic said, adding that Belgrade has so far come up with five or six concrete proposals for Kosovo’s regional representation, all containing the reference to Resolution 1244.

We are ready to discuss all these proposals and to make them better. If there exists the smallest possible space, we will use it because Serbia wants to reach an agreement, said the head of the Serbian team for dialogue with Pristina.

He stressed that we must do everything possible to reach success in dialogue, and expressed his belief that there are chances of an agreement to be reached.

Stefanovic reiterated that the position of our delegation remained unchanged, noting that Belgrade is ready to talk about improving the modalities which have been proposed.

The problems in implementing the agreements reached will be discussed in tomorrow's round of talks.

He pointed out that all the agreements reached in dialogue to date have been implemented, except for the joint management of crossings, whose application requires making a technical protocol.

Stefanovic said that it is also necessary to solve the problem of high vehicle insurance taxes for passing administrative crossings, and pointed out that the price is unacceptably high, however it is not determined by the government, but by insurance companies.