Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told German daily Die Welt that Belgrade has made progress in the dialogue with Pristina and that it has carried out painful reforms, adding he hopes that chapters in Serbia's EU accession talks will be opened soon.

"Serbia worked very hard on that. We have advanced in the dialogue with Pristina; we have carried out painful reforms and initiated austerity measures. Belgrade has done that without pressure from outside," he said.

The Serbian PM said that important agreements with Pristina have been concluded in the past six months, qualifying the ones on judiciary and judicial powers as most difficult ones.

Commenting on the situation in northern Kosovo and the issue of Serb community, Vucic said that "a satisfactory solution that probably has to appear such as to make both sides, Belgrade and Pristina alike, dissatisfied" is being sought.

"We take responsibility for the Serbs in Kosovo and Serbia is doing its best to find a sustainable solution in relation to the Serb community," he pointed out.