BELGRADE - Milovan Drecun, chair of the Serbian parliamentary committee on Kosovo-Metohija, said on Thursday that it is the right time for opening Chapter 35, on Kosovo-Metohija (KiM), in the country's EU accession talks, which would be a boost to the process of normalizing relations between Belgrade and Pristina.

Drecun said that this would reduce Pristina's room for manoeuver for blackmailing and postponing the implementation of parts of the Brussels agreement, especially those relating to the establishment of a community of Serb municipalities (ZSO).

“I think that, after the signing of the agreement on the judiciary, the EU could give the go-ahead for Chapter 35 because the opening of that chapter would also stimulate Belgrade to continue normalizing the relations,” Drecun told reporters in the parliament.

It would then be clear to Pristina that it cannot use Chapter 35 to slow down the process, blackmail Belgrade or have unrealistic demands, he noted.
“As regards the progress in the normalization process, which is related to Chapter 35, one should take into account that everything does not depend on Belgrade. For the progress and implementation of the Brussels agreement to happen, Pristina has to take an active and constructive part in that,” Drecun said.

He said that the formation of the ZSO is the biggest issue that is yet to be addressed.
„And there we will have a political fight over the formulation of a charter of that community, as it is evident that Pristina would like to marginalize that idea,” he concluded.