Izvor KoSSev, 10. jula 2020.
The biggest obstacle in the negotiations is that „when you enter talks you have to adjust the agreements to your legal order“ – which the Albanians refuse to do, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic said after today’s video summit on the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. The summit was held under the auspices of the French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Everything has changed in the attitude of Europeans, Vucic told media, while announcing difficult tasks ahead.
The Serbian delegation was „excellently prepared“ and „ironlike,“ claimed the President while still unsatisfied with the attention they received.
“We presented the facts on several occasions. I would say that some delegations repeated only what they had written down, without listening to what we were saying.“
Vucic also said that he had a tough talk with the hosts in which „Serbia was the only one that had different views“ but Serbia is ready for talks.
Vucic replied that the Serbian side insisted that the first point must refer to the talks between “Belgrade and Pristina,” not “Serbia and Kosovo” – as suggested by the hosts. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s self-proclaimed independence, he added.
I am pleased with our arguments, but it will not be easy for us in the future. I think we will face great, I won’t say pressure, but great expectations from our European partners, while at the same time we meet a completely unrealistic approach of Kosovo Albanians who would like to gain everything, but for Serbia to be left with nothing
The president also told the media, in his words, Serbia had fulfilled everything and the Albanians did not. According to him, the problem the Albanians have with implementing what was agreed upon is related to the existing laws and the constitution.
When you enter into a dialogue, then both sides have to adjust the agreements to their legal order, to see how and on what way you can do that. They said, as did their Constitutional Court, if I’m not mistaken, that the ASM is contrary to the Constitution of Kosovo, I don’t know how they will get out of it
“What else should we talk about if we are not able to talk about the ASM (Association of Serb-majority Municipalities)? About something you signed off on April 19th, 2013, and if you haven’t been able to fulfill that for seven and a half years, what else can you fulfill?” – Vucic also wondered.
At the press conference held after the summit, instead of conveying the demands of the Serbian delegation, the Serbian President rather spoke about the demands of the Pristina side.
„The Albanian side presented demands that we wrote down carefully, now look at the position we are in and what they are requesting. Number one, the preservation of the territorial integrity of Kosovo; number two, the preservation of the Constitution and constitutional organization of Kosovo; number three, permanent mutual recognition, not a model of two Germanies; number four, Pristina’s membership in the UN, for the other EU countries to recognize Kosovo, and then it would deal with the issue of the missing persons and war damage,“ he said.
“If this is the meaning of everything that they want to talk about, then everything is completely meaningless,” the president said.
According to Vucic, Serbia is not ready to accept an ultimatum from Pristina.
Instead, he would like to discuss small steps that would improve the relations between the two peoples.
„We are ready to talk – to talk about small steps that would improve relations between Serbs and Albanians, that would create a different atmosphere, that would lead to the free flow of people, goods, capital and services, that would create better conditions for relations between peoples who live in the Balkans, but for us to accept an ultimatum and orders is not realistic or possible,“ he stressed.
The talks will continue next Thursday in Brussels, instead of Sunday as was earlier announced.
Vucic confirmed again today the ongoing speculations that the Pristina delegation was unwilling to continue the dialogue on Sunday – due to internal problems.
“The Albanians did not want to come on Sunday, because Thaci has something to do in The Hague on Monday, so it is not convenient for them to come at the time, and we must endure it and be silent about it,” he told media
The Kosovo President, Hashim Thaci announced on Wednesday that he will respond to the call of the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office in the Hague. However, it remains unknown what is the reason behind his visit. The same office filed a war crimes indictment against him on April 24th.