In an interview for the website news, British Ambassador to Kosovo, Ian Cliff, spoke about the idea of Vetevendosje leading dialogue with Belgrade and stressed that the international community, and particularly the British Government, are not overly concerned with who will actually lead the process. “Our position is that if there is an agreement that includes Vetevendosje, it should also incorporate commitment for implementation of dialogue agreements and its continuation. If they want to make this dialogue more transparent and reports more to the parliament, that’s fine. But as I said, withdrawing from what has already been agreed is not acceptable and we have made this very clear to Vetevendosje”, said Cliff. He said that he was told by representatives of the post-election coalition bloc that international community in Serbia wanted to have the leader of Democratic Party (DS) Boris Tadic win elections but when the Progressive Party (SNS) led by Tomislav Nikolic won, they realized that quite a lot was achieved with him in power. “People change”, said Cliff.
Asked whether the position of the British Government towards Vetevendosje is slightly different to that of other countries, especially the US, Cliff replied, “Different countries have different stances. I remember a time when, for instance, Americans would not speak to certain Serb representatives in the north but now they talk to them perhaps much more than we do”. Cliff said he represents the view that “we should talk to all, including those whose methods we may not like that much”.
