In parallel with implementation of the Brussels Agreement, Serbia will next year propose its solution for the final status of Kosovo and Metohija. President Tomislav Nikolic will soon present the new plan, and then the Government and the National Assembly should correct it and finalize.
Milovan Drecun, the official of Progressive Party and Head of the parliamentary committee for Kosovo said that President Nikolic wants to go towards the new events, instead to allow the events find us unprepared: “In recent years, Serbia was only trying to minimize the damage, when a process already ended. Nikolic’s proposal is to show initiative, “take the lead” and put on the table our idea of the status of Kosovo. We will show that this is our territory, which we don’t give up. On the other hand, we will continue the implementation of the Brussels Agreement.”
The position of Socialists, according to Djordje Milicevic, a member of the presidency of the party, is that a unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo can never be legal and accepted: “All talks are status neutral. It is important to continue the dialogue, to implement the agreements and as soon as possible form a community of Serbian municipalities. We will discuss the platform when it appears, because it requires the widest possible consensus.”
Borko Stefanovic, vice president of the Democratic Party, said that “Nikolic wants to exempt from those which are expected to recognize Kosovo”: “He wants to distance himself from Vucic and the government, by offering another paper that has no basis in reality. He can propose or partition of Kosovo, or international conference on determination of the status of Kosovo and Metohija, both of which is completely unattainable. Not only that he wants to show the difference in relation to the Government, but he also has a spare time.”
Social Democratic Party (SDS) President, Boris Tadic said that Nikolic is misinforming the public by implying that Brussels will seek recognition of Kosovo as a condition for Serbia’s EU accession. “As long there is one EU country which has not recognized Kosovo, requesting recognition of independence cannot be the official position of the EU. President Nikolić is doing this or because he does not understand the principles of international politics, or to return to active political life by the abuse of Kosovo issue. In such a way he is worsening the government participation in the process of European integration, endangering our relationship with the EU and hinders the resumption of negotiations on accession.
President of the New Party, Zoran Zivkovic said that Nikolic’s announcement is part of his showdown with Vucic. “Their interests diverge, and since there is a conflict, he pulled out the issue of Kosovo. Of course there is nothing that Serbia can do. With Brussels Agreement the administration of PM Vucic has recognized Kosovo, de facto and de jure.”
For Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), the announcement of President Nikolic is “extremely hypocritical.” “In 2008, he vowed that he will not rest until he returns Kosovo within the rest of Serbia. Four years later, he established a classical border between central Serbia and Kosovo and Metohija,” said the Kosovo Committee of DSS.
