Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic on Monday asked the UN not to change the format of sessions dedicated to Kosovo - something requested by Western powers.

Dacic was addressing a regular UN Security Council meeting dedicated to the new report of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the work of the UN mission in Kosovo and Metohija, UNMIK.

Dacic said that Serbia is strongly committed to solving all issues through dialogue, and that he believes his country has shown "enviable political maturity and responsibility" over the past years - but he also accused Pristina of failing to meet the obligations that it has undertaken.

"Five years ago I personally signed the first agreement on the principles regulating the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, the so-called Brussels agreement. As I already said, it was not at all easy to come to that agreement and it has not been easy for us to implement the obligations from that agreement. But we have implemented almost all of them, including the politically most sensitive aspects such as integration of police and judiciary. On the other hand, Pristina also undertook obligations by signing the agreement, and the most important one is to establish the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO), to which as many as six points of this agreement refer," Dacic said.

He also said that Pristina has not implemented that key part of the agreement and of its obligations.

"The statements that can be heard from Pristina's representatives, such as that the formation of the ZSO will be conditioned by them getting a chair at the UN, only confirms that Pristina has no sincere intention of meeting its obligations from the Brussels agreement but to instead breach it in the crudest manner. I must conclude with regret that the chief of the EU office in Pristina stepped outside her mandate to express her support to such a platform of Pristina, belittling in this way an agreement that the EU signed," Dacic said.

He added that radical ideas have been heard, such as the need to abolish UNMIK, change its mandate, transform it to a political mission, and to reduce the number of (UNSC) sessions from the current four held each year.

"The situation in Kosovo and Metohija has changed since 1999, but it is far from ideal, and if we look at any of the previous reports of the UN secretary-general about UNMIK's work from 1999 until today, it is clear this is not about 'a young democracy' and 'a multi-ethnic society' that occasionally faces a challenge, like some are trying to present it," Dacic said.

He said that in these 19 years, UNMIK has done a lot to change the situation in Kosovo, but that the job is not over. He added that the Security Council has a duty and an obligation to help find a solution and normalize the situation in Kosovo.

See at: https://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2018&mm=05&dd=14&nav_id=104156