Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic says, in Trstenik after opening the factory, he hopes that the international community understands that Serbia is in a difficult situation on the occasion of the announced formation of the Kosovo Army, adding it is the duty of the authorities (of Serbia) to protect "their face and national pride" without entering into conflicts, reports the regional broadcaster N1.
Secretary general of the Serbian president Nikola Selakovic told Prva TV on Wednesday that there is no confirmation that Washington is sending a ship full of weapons to the (future) Kosovo army, quotes B92 portal.
"The very fact that the formation of the so-called Kosovo army is being considered, which is contrary to all international regulations, but also to those adopted in Kosovo, shows that they don't hesitate at nothing," said Selakovic.
The Head of the Parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun said that Serbia cannot block the transformation of Kosovo’s Security Forces (KSF) into an army but can ask Washington and NATO to guarantee the force would not cross into the north, N1 reported last night.
Drecun added that the Belgrade – Pristina dialogue on normalisation of relations would continue and that Pristina made some moves to secure a better position in the final stage of negotiations in Brussels.
Nebojsa Covic, former head of the Coordination Centre for Kosovo and Metohija told Prva TV, Kosovo Albanians would not be able to carry out police action this morning, if they had no support from the outside. “Nothing happens without knowledge of Washington,” Covic said.
“That is the pattern. You create new problems, and everything else is pushed aside. Who still remembers the “Yellow House” case, the Brussels agreement, Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, Special Court for KLA war crimes?” Covic asked.
The Belgrade daily Blic claims that the US and the most influential European countries are concerned already about the co-operation and contacts held by top officials of Moscow and representatives of Pristina authorities.
Blic says that more diplomatic sources confirmed that all presidents of influential Western countries ask about this newly built relationship within the EU institutions.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent told Belgrade-based daily Danas that the United States will continue to support Serbian and Kosovo President Aleksandar Vucic and Hashim Thaci to reach an agreement.
Aleksandar Vucic has denied that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US National Security Advisor John Bolton had agreed on a solution for Kosovo.
As the Serbian president said on Wednesday in Belgrade, Lavrov and Bolton did, for the first time, speak about Kosovo.
"Whatever agreements someone may be making, Serbia must agree too," Vucic said.
He added that he received a message from Lavrov.
"I repeat - anything that somebody is agreeing on Serbia must agree on, and we are far, far, far from any compromise solution," Vucic said.
Accidentally or intentionally, a letter from former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Hayle on the withdrawal of the UNMIK mission from Kosovo coincided with the adoption of laws in the Kosovo Assembly, which will allow Pristina to form its own army, writes today Belgrade-based daily Blic.
Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic confirmed on Thursday he had a meeting with the closest party allies but would not say if the topics included early elections, adding that if there was a pressure that could happen, the Beta news agency reported.
Speaking to reporters at the side-lines of the Belgrade Security Forum conference, Vucic said he would not like to stay in power with the support of five-six percent of the voters, although the elections should be called in two years.
US Assistant Secretary of State Wess Mitchell pointed out at a meeting with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic that the United States is open to consider with its EU counterparts the proposal for Kosovo' solution to which Belgrade and Pristina would come up in the dialogue.
Wess Mitchell expressed the US support to the continuation of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, with the expectation that the process will bring a lasting political solution, reports RTS, quoting the Serbian Foreign Ministry announcement.