Belgrade has launched a major diplomatic offensive to inform members of the EU about everything that was so far discussed and negotiated with Pristina, and we expect that it will be respected and in the final version of the draft negotiating framework for Chapter 35, says Marko Djuric, the Director of the Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija.
When asked at what stage of preparation was the document which Belgrade described as extremely “bad paper,” Djuric said that transitional criteria set out in the draft that circulated among European capitals was not favourable for us and that elements were included that were not discussed in the framework of the dialogue based in Brussels.
“Chapter 35 should not be a substitute for dialogue with Pristina; it should not address issues on which we have not yet discussed. It would not be fair to bind exclusively our relationship with Pristina with the integration process and especially to be an instrument for concessions to Pristina in the framework of the Brussels dialogue” he says.
When asked to comment on the information that the Advisor to Federica Mogherini for dialogue, Ana-Maria Bura, by nationality an Albanian, in this process has been openly on the side of Pristina, and that she was one of the main authors of the disputed draft, Djuric said that the presentation of such marks of unnamed sources about the officials of EEAS involved in the talks between Belgrade and Pristina do not contribute to strengthening of the position of Serbia in the fight for the protection of national interests in Kosovo.
