BELGRADE – The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Marko Djuric expects the European Union to give a positive assessment of all Belgrade has done in the dialogue with Pristina so far.
In an interview with Tanjug ahead of informal consultations with EU officials on negotiation chapter 35, to be held in Brussels on Friday, Djuric said that he has received firm assurances over the past months that aspects of the implementation of the Brussels Agreement that depend on the political will of Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians will have no impact on Serbia’s European integrations.
“We are working intensively to create such a political climate and a relationship of trust and partnership and, where possible, one of friendship,” Djuric said.
With the screening report on Chapter 35 (which includes the issue of normalisation of Belgrade-Pristina ties) pending, Djuric said that he expects the European External Action Service and the European Commission to take an affirmative position, but added that the opening of negotiation chapters will depend primarily on the will of EU member states.
Djuric said that he expects Serbia to receive support in the European integration process due to its responsible approach to all citizens in Kosovo-Metohija and the fact that it has reached out its hand to Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians, and because it wants the Serbs to assume part of the responsibility for developments in the province by participating in the Pristina government.
Many issues – such as Serbia’s property in Kosovo-Metohija, the position of the Serbian Orthodox Church there and the fate of missing persons – are yet to be addressed once the dialogue resumes.
“The pace, format and topics of the dialogue will greatly depend on the role of the mediator in this process. Ms. Ashton was very engaged personally in this process, and we are grateful to her and her team for what they have done for the normalisation of relations;” Djuric said.
One of the reasons why Belgrade wants the political dialogue with Pristina to resume as soon as possible is the fact that some of the existing agreements have not been implemented, such as the establishment of basic courts and prosecutor’s offices in Serb-majority areas or creating conditions for establishing a community of Serb municipalities.
“The steering team of the community of Serb municipalities should table a draft statute of the community in the coming period. The Kosovo-Metohija Serbs will be ready to propose that document shortly,” Djuric said.
“It is very important that an agreement is reached with the ethnic Albanian political leadership on transforming the Brussels Agreement at some point into laws that will be valid in the province,” Djuric said.
Over the past weeks, there have been informal contacts with all political organisations in Kosovo-Metohija, but, as yet, there have been no formal discussions about Serb participation in the Pristina government, Djuric added.
