“Pristina and Belgrade can easily agree about an exchange of territories,” Ivica Dačić has said – according to an Albanian language news agency from Preševo.
Blic reports that Serbian foreign minister Ivica Dačić claimed that the statement attributed to him by Presheva Jone was a fabrication.
In this interview, Dačić allegedly made statements which are completely opposite to the position of the state and the Brussels agreement. According to this agency, Dačić literally said that Serbia agreed to exchange territory with Pristina i.e., that Preševo and Medveđa belong to Kosovo, and northern part of Kosovo to Serbia.
“The exchange of territories idea is not new, nor has it been avoided by some Serbian politicians,” writes Blic, and adds:
“On the contrary, the idea, like a flea market, has been pulled out and launched as a solution whenever the Kosovo problem sank to a deeper crisis. However, pulling this topic now, and by top officials, literally means sticking a finger in the eye of the U.S., the EU, and the negotiators in Brussels. Also, this stance would mean that Serbia is not sincere in the Brussels dialogue.”
-I never gave an interview or a statement to that agency. I am shocked, said Dačić to Blic.
Asked whether he was in this was “abused,” Dačić responded affirmatively and then speculated about the possible reason for the publishing of the “non-existent interview”:
“Probably the goal was to once again cause instability ahead of the continuation of the dialogue and blame the government in Belgrade. By the way, I have been talking for years about the need to find a permanent solution for Kosovo and therefore I don’t know why they needed to make up interviews.”
Dačić added that Serbian negotiators “remain committed to the dialogue and the implementation of the Brussels agreement.”
