"Meeting about dialogue, without handshake"

Source: B92, Tanjug

BELGRADE, BRUSSELS -- PM Ivica Dačić said after meeting with Hashim Thaci that a new meeting will be held in November, and that Serbia's dialogue platform will be ready by then.

Ivica Dačić (Beta, file)

He told B92 late on Friday that the Brussels meeting - organized and attended by EU's Catherine Ashton - focused on reaching "an agreement on the dialogue", and noted that there was "no historic handshake".
"Today's meeting had the goal of enabling Catherine Ashton, on behalf of the EU whose mediator she is, based on UN (SC) Resolution 1244, to establish whether Belgrade and Priština wish to continue their dialogue and have it raised to a higher level," the premier stated, and added:

"At the time we formed the authorities - and this was also said by the Serbian president - we stated on several occasions that we wanted the dialogue to resume, that we were ready for it, and that we had the most interest in insisting on all the problems being solved peacefully, considering that Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija live in very difficult circumstances. In that sense I'd say that what I said at the start of the meeting today was also very important - that Serbia, by agreeing to resume the dialogue, does not change its stance on Kosovo and Metohija."

Serbia absolutely cannot, nor does it wish to, see this dialogue result in a recognition of the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo, Dačić stressed, and added that it "considered the dialogue to be status-neutral", advising at the same time "each side" to show restrain in view of making unilateral moves.

"All participants in the meeting agreed to that," he revealed.

The prime minister further noted that there were subjects that Serbia did not wish to discuss - "which does not mean there opinions about this are unison", and that the dialogue could have any topic that would not influence "the status-neutral position of Serbia toward Kosovo and Metohija".

"What has been agreed upon is for the dialogue to continue, for a new meeting to be held next month, a new round of talks, and in the meantime our state officials will discuss our united state platform and approach. Perhaps the most important result of this meeting is that desire has been expressed to continue the political dialogue, which is one of the conditions the European Council demanded from Serbia, and that is to show visible progress in relations between Belgrade and Priština."

Dačić also told B92 that today was "the first time that he met with representatives of the interim institutions in Kosovo", i.e., Kosovo Albanian officials, but that this was "not true of Thaci".

He said that "Thaci told us he (was) also in Rambouillet", and that he took part in "the dialogue in Vienna" that was attended by Boris Tadić and Vojislav Koštunica:

"Clearly he has more experience in negotiations. At the same time, it could hardly be said that this today was a historic meeting."

Dačić then described the meeting he held with Thaci and Ashton:

"It was a meeting without any protocol at all. There were no plans to shake hands, (there were) not even state symbols. You know that I'm always wearing the Serbian flag pin on my lapel. Thaci had something similar, with markings of Kosovo, but I did notice out loud that mine was bigger... In any case, the atmosphere was very constructive."