KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - Head of the Serbian government office for Kosovo Marko Djuric has said that the Kosovo authorities are responsible for the fact that the Brussels agreement on the normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina has not been implemented in full.

A very important part of that document, signed in Brussels on April 19, 2013, has not been implemented, the one referring to the creation of the legal framework needed to establish the Association of Serb Municipalities, he said in Kosovska Mitrovica on Tuesday.

“Serbia stands alongside Oliver, Ilija, Dragoljub, Nebojsa and Aleksandar and we are confident that they would prove innocent, in whichever fair procedure,” said Director of the Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric, to the reporters in Kosovska Mitrovica.

At the same time, he added, Serbia is demanding their release pending completion of the court procedure, and that they will be allowed adequate time for the preparation of defence.

The leader of the Civic Initiative ‘SDP’ Oliver Ivanovic, before the Municipal Court in Kosovska Mitrovica, has pleaded not guilty regarding the all charges submitted against him for involvement in war crimes in 1999 and 2000. " I am absolutely not guilty," said Ivanovic in response to a question of Judge, Roxana Komsa, if he feels guilty.

The other four accused Serbs, Dragoljub Delibasic, father and son Ilija and Nebojša Vujacic and Aleksandar Lazović also pleaded not guilty for the actions they are charged for.

The statement of the prosecutor of the EU Special Investigation Team, Clint Williamson, on the findings of an investigation into the trafficking in human organs in Kosovo, although with the status “temporary announced until a special court for the crimes of the KLA will be established”, provides space for diplomatic and political action of official Belgrade in the fight for Kosovo, believe our diplomatic sources. 

Director of the Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric said that the fact that leader of the CI SDP Oliver Ivanovic is in detention for more than six months without an indictment and without any valid legal proceeding is international legal and political scandal.

Director of the Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric assessed that there won’t be further normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, if Pristina continues to ignore obligations deriving from the Brussels agreement.

In the middle of the week, head of the Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric was in Pristina, where he met with Serbian liaison officer Dejan Pavicevic, walked around the town, had lunch in the centre, visited the local church Sv. Nikola and visited Gracanica.

Djuric later explained that "his task is to show that this is something normal and that it should be an integral part of the normalization of relations." 

“It is required to create the political basis for the establishment of Community of Serbian municipalities (ZSO) by adopting the statute, which is only possible through political agreements and negotiations with the political force that will be the backbone of the future government in Pristina. I expect that participation of now legitimately elected representatives of the Serbian people in provincial institutions will contribute to direct talks between us and Kosovo Albanians about the things that were already discussed in Brussels.

Director of the Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo, Marko Djuric, met today Serbia’s liaison officer in Kosovo, Dejan Pavicevic, with whom he discussed implementation of projects important for ‘the two communities’.

“We spoke about how to unify existing economic potential and together with representatives of provisional institutions to work on projects that would be of importance for the two communities”, said Djuric after a meeting at the EU Office in Pristina.

BELGRADE - Director of Serbian government's Office for Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) Marko Djuric said that Serb representatives in the province are ready to participate in the new Kosovo government, but only under certain conditions.

The most important condition is the formation of the community of Serb municipalities in line with the agreement reached by Belgrade and Pristina on April 19, 2013 in Brussels, as well as improving the safety of the citizens, Djuric said in an interview to Belgrade-based weekly Novi Magazin.