(Beta/AP)

Serbian PM believes partition is "best solution" for Kosovo

SOURCE: B92, TANJUG

BELGRADE -- Ivica Dačić said on Thursday that he "still believes" that a partition of Kosovo and "separation" with ethnic Albanians there was "the best solution".



The Serbian prime minister made the comment while visiting the National Library in Belgrade, and added that "they were persistently repeating in Brussels that they do not wish to have a new Serb Republic in Kosovo", but according to him - "nobody is asking for that, anyway."

"The authorities in Serbia made a choice, made a compromise. They won't let me talk either about partition or separation any longer, although I still believe that is the best and only solution - in other words, the only one acceptable both for Serbs and Albanians," Dačić was quoted as saying.

He added that Serbia "did everything" by offering an association of Serb municipalities to be formed that would, according to him, "be a part of the Priština system".

However, noted the prime minister, now even that is not enough, with the Kosovo Albanian side, i.e., Priština, demanding that such a future association not be given any powers, which he said was "unacceptable".

"Don't ask me, I don't know"
Top Serbian officials will meet in Belgrade on Friday in order to discuss the continuing dialogue with Priština that is being held in Brussels under the sponsorship of the EU.

Ahead of the next round of talks, scheduled for March 4, Ivica Dačić told reporters that he "did not know in which direction the talks with Priština could even go" - considering that its representatives "did not even wish to discuss giving an association of Serb municipalities executive powers".

Serbia remains committed to dialogue as the only way towards a solution, he told reporters today, describing the situation as "not at all naive, but very difficult", and adding:

"We will come under a great deal of pressure and manipulation."

Dačić also made an appeal "for common sense to prevail".

"Serbia has had a fair approach, I don't know what else we could suggest, short of recognizing Kosovo and saying, 'nothing of ours is being taken into account, do what you please'. But, what will happen to our people in that case," wondered the prime minister.

He said that he was traveling to Brussels on Monday to continue the Kosovo dialogue - but that he "did not know what he and Hashim Thaci could even agree on":

"Don't ask me what I'll be doing there in Brussels. It is very difficult and I don't know."

"We agree only on one point, and that is that the problem of the parallelism of institutions could be solved by forming an association of Serb municipalities. However, they do not wish to even discuss executive powers for that association, that topic is absolutely unacceptable to them, as some other topics are to us," Dačić stated, and added that "it takes two - or in this case, three - to compromise".

Asked how the EU was behaving in all this, Dačić said that their position was "neutral, wishing to solve the problem, and not imposing their positions on either Belgrade or Priština":

"They keep saying they do not want 'Republika Srpska' (Serb Republic in Bosnia) in Kosovo, but we don't know who's even mentioned the Serb Republic. The powers of the association of municipalities as envisaged by us are much lower than those of the Serb Republic, but there are also other examples or regional authorities in Europe."

According to Dačić, "talks must be launched at last" with those Serbs who "participate" in the Kosovo government - "because the majority in the Kosovo assembly depends on them".

"This is a key moment, we must all be united over what we are asking," he concluded.

The Kosovo dialogue was initially launched in March 2011, and represented first direct talks between the authorities in Belgrade and Priština since ethnic Albanians in Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in early 2008

Serbia rejected that proclamation, as did the majority Serb population in the northern parts of Kosovo, who also do not accept the authority of the government in Priština.