Headlines - 09.04.2013

Serbia refuses the agreement, requests more negotiations (dailies)

Papers report today that Serbia has refused the agreement with Kosovo facilitated by European Union. Such a move is considered to damage the hopes of Belgrade for the start of talks for membership in the EU, reports Reuters from Serb capital. At the same time, the ruling coalition in Serbia called for “urgent” continuation of talks with Kosovo to achieve an agreement.

EU disappointed with Serbia but does not explain what next (Koha Ditore)

Koha Ditore reports that many EU diplomats have struggled until late hours to know what will be the next steps of EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, Catherine Ashton, who is facilitating the political-level dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo after Belgrade officially announced that it refused to accept the proposed agreement. Several sources said that Serbia even sent its decision in Serbian language written in Cyrillic alphabet.

From the statements issued by Lady Ashton it can be clearly seen that she makes Serbia responsible for the failure of the agreement. Several diplomats have also said that they were under the impression that Ashton that there will be no more new rounds of dialogue because the proposal is the fruit of eight past meetings. However, few diplomats from EU countries expressed their opinion that Ashton has left the possibility for another meeting open thus giving Serbia more time. Nevertheless, the EU was not able to determine if the refusal of Serbia is indeed the end of this process.

Çollaku: Thaçi-Dacic meeting by the end of the week (Koha Ditore)

Bekim Çollaku, advisor to Kosovo PM Hashim Thaçi, said that there will be another meeting between prime ministers of Kosovo and Serbia by the end of this week, at the latest. “Baroness will not let this process go easy and she knows that the agreement is close. So she will call for a meeting very soon, this will happen definitely by the end of the week. But it is known that the principles discussed are in Kosovo’s favour”, said Çollaku.

At the same time, Government of Kosovo issued a statement following Serbia’s refusal of the agreement. It said that the proposals of the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton were in the function of peace, stability and Europeanisation of the region and would also mark the beginning of the end of a historic conflict in the region. The statement also stressed that Kosovo institutions were ready to take no easy decisions but firmly believing these would be for the good of Kosovo and its European perspective.

Dacic: Serbs and Albanians could easily agree for territorial exchange (Koha Ditore)

Serbian Prime Minister, Ivica Dacic, has admitted that in the talks in Brussels he tried to impose the concept for division of Kosovo which would be achieved through the exchange of the north of Kosovo with Preshevo Valley. He however said that such a solution is unacceptable for EU and the US.

Agreement is possible (dailies)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi said that an agreement with Serbia would help in consolidating and functioning of the state of Kosovo throughout its territory. “I wish to believe that Serbia is also interested for law and order to rule in the north of Kosovo and for the Serb community living there to lead a normal life. Success in this dialogue will be in the good of both countries and above all, our citizens”, said Thaçi.

EU Special Representative to Kosovo Samuel Zbogar said the agreement is possible. “Agreement will be in the good of the people in Kosovo and Serbia and will help in providing them a better future”, said Zbogar.

Comments were made in a meeting of the working group in charge of coordinating donations for the northern part of Kosovo and before the news of Serbia rejecting the deal on the north.

Beqiri: It is not terrifying if Serbia refused the agreement (Bota Sot)

Head of the LDK Parliamentary Group, Ismet Beqiri, stated that it is important for Kosovo to respect its constitutional obligations and that it would be concerning if the dialogue harmed the country. It is less important what Belgrade says. “We will support any dialogue that does not harm the interest of the country and we will not support and will not protect any agreement that harms the interest of the country and the Constitution,” said Beqiri. He stressed that LDK will not be part of the discussions in the following phases. “It is not terrifying if Serbia refused the agreement with Kosovo,” he said.

Pack: The future of Serbia is in danger (dailies)

Member of European Parliament, Doris Pack, stated that she is sorry that these rounds of talks in Brussels did not give an end to the difficulties between Kosovo and Serbia. Her reaction comes after the decision of Serb Government to refuse the agreement for normalization of relations with Kosovo.

“I don’t think that something is going to happen soon while the agreement has been refused”, said Pack adding that a new beginning should be found now, a new dialogue, because on the contrary it cannot move forward. “Serbia will not receive the date for negotiations, but I think also Kosovo will not be able to move forward”, said Mrs. Pack.

Kusari-Lila on BBC: Kosovo was always in favor of peaceful solution (Koha Ditore)

Koha Ditore reports that Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, has given an interview for the well-known BBC show HARDtalk of Stephen Sackur. She said that the people of Serbia should understand that Kosovo independence has been recognized internationally and the normalization of relations should happen through the dialogue. Kusari-Lila insisted that all the agreements achieved in Brussels are according to Ahtisaari Plan and that Kosovo was always in favor of peaceful solution and constructive.

Fajon: Kosovo is not ready for visa liberalization (Koha Ditore)

Slovenian MEP Tanja Fajon said that Kosovo is not ready yet for visa liberalization and should before go through certain procedures which the countries in the region also underwent. In a lecture in the philosophic faculty of University of Pristina, Fajon said that Kosovo has the support of European Parliament but not of all EU member countries because of some negative evaluations. Some of the concerns these EU member states have include organized crime, corruption, insecurity of borders and so on. Fajon said that sometimes it looks irresponsible when politicians emphasize that they are close to gain visa liberalization while at the same time they are the ones who create uncomfortable images. “This is very dangerous for the fact that Kosovo is still not ready and should go through certain processes, as other countries,” said Fajon.