US impatient to see the Belgrade and Pristina dialogue to continue as soon as possible, and its representatives do not hide expectations. US emissaries are shifting, and end of this week arrives and under-secretary David Hale, writes today Belgrade based daily Vecernje Novosti.
Pristina will withdraw taxes on goods from central Serbia sooner or later, President Aleksandar Vucic said, but also stressed that this cost Serbia a lot.
Asked by journalists in Davos to comment on Avni Arifi, the head of the Ramush Haradinaj's cabinet, who said that the government in Pristina could temporarily suspend taxes (pending a comprehensive agreement with Belgrade), Vucic noted in a statement for Serbia’s national broadcaster RTS that this would happen sooner or later.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has called on interim Kosovo institutions to "end a trade war" with Belgrade, B92 reports.
Merkel's spokesperson Steffen Seibert said Germany has "zero understanding" for Pristina imposing a 100 percent tax on products from central Serbia.
He also told Bloomberg agency that Germany "would have preferred Serbia to allow Kosovo to join Interpol." "We hope that both sides quickly return to dialogue," Seibert said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel wishes that Belgrade and Pristina reach an agreement on comprehensive normalization of relations prior to “her political retirement” respectively by the end of her mandate in 2021, Danas daily reports citing diplomatic sources from Brussels.
The daily added, Chancellor Merkel would continue to advocate “with all her strength” for reaching a solution to the Kosovo issue in the months to come.
Serbian PM Ana Brnabic attended a ceremonial dinner hosted by the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in Berlin on Tuesday evening. Merkel and Brnabic "sat at the same table in the ceremonial hall of the German Historical Museum," BETA news agency said.
The prime minister said that the dinner was "an opportunity to talk to the German chancellor on various issues," the Serbian government announced.
According to this, Brnabic also "thanked Merkel for all the support that Germany provides to Serbia, but also talked to her about the issue of Kosovo and Metohija."
Head of Serbian diplomacy, Ivica Dacic positively assessed the willingness of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to talk to the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Paris, Tanjug news agency reports.
He also termed as positive her readiness to be familiar with the course of Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. Dacic added that Kosovo and Metohija would be a topic this week as well, and that he would be present at the UN SC session on Kosovo.
“We would remain constructive. We want dialogue to continue, to peaceful resolve all the issues,” Dacic noted.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Paris yesterday, understood the latest moves of Pristina as a major obstacle in further continuation of the dialogue, writes Belgrade-based daily Blic.
According to Blic, during the meeting, prior to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, held at the initiative of the German Chancellor, Vucic particularly insisted on Pristina's decision to increase customs duties on goods from Serbia and BiH.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday in Istanbul commented on a statement made by Serb politician from Kosovo and Metohija Rada Trajkovic, B92 reports.
Namely, Vucic reacted after Trajkovic said that he had been "working behind the back of German Chancellor Angela Merkel," and also, that he had "disappointed Merkel."
Departure of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who announced she would not run for the new mandate, would have an impact on everything that happens in Europe, including Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Regional Cooperation Council Secretary General Goran Svilanovic believes, Blic daily reports.
German parliamentarian Peter Beyer thinks Kosovo is "factually independent and Serbia should recognize de jure the sovereign state of the Republic of Kosovo."