PM: Kosovo negotiations won't continue

SOURCE: B92, BETA
BELGRADE -- Serbian PM Ivica Dačić said on Friday that there would be no continuation of the dialogue "because no acceptable agreement had been reached so far."

Ivica Dačić in Belgrade on Friday (Tanjug)

 

Ivica Dačić in Belgrade on Friday (Tanjug)
When asked whether he would go to a new round of the negotiations, Dačić said:

“If we went to Brussels, we would go to the signing or to a final round and it is unknown when and whether that will be, although I do know that it is important that it is by April 16 because of the date. But I remind you that a decision on a date (for the start of the EU accession talks) will be made in June”.

At the 4th regional ministerial conference dubbed “The fight against organized crime, corruption and judicial cooperation in the region of Southeast Europe” in Belgrade on Friday the prime minister said that Serbia deserved to get a date for the start of the EU accession negotiations even if it did not reach an agreement with Priština.

He stressed that April 16, when Ashton will file her report to the European Commission, was not a D-Day for Serbia's EU integration.

“April 16 is neither D-Day nor will all of our dreams about the EU and Kosovo will fall apart. April 17 will come,” Dačić said.

“We want the continuation of the dialogue and believe that this should be accompanied by progress in the EU integration and that Serbia deserves to get the date,” he told a press conference.

The PM stressed that there was nothing new in the Belgrade-Priština dialogue and that Serbia requested an improvement of the offered deal on powers for the community of Serb municipalities in Kosovo.

The last round of the talks ended without an agreement on April 2 in Brussels. Belgrade was given eight days to inform Brussels whether it would accept the offer or not. The Serbian government rejected the proposal on April 10.

Meanwhile, B92 learned that EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton should visit Belgrade on April 17.

According to media reports, Ashton will visit Podgorica on Monday, April 15 and confer with local officials on the political situation in the country.

B92 has also learned that the Belgrade-Priština dialogue would not continue in Brussels on April 15-16 despite earlier announcements.