The annexation of Serbia’s southern region advocated by Pristina and the ethnic Albanians from the Presevo Valley would be a partition of central Serbia not of Kosovo, Rasim Ljajic, Serbia’s Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, said on Thursday.
Serbian media reports that on 15 September President of Russia, Vladimir Putin will host Aleksandar Vucic President of Serbia to discuss a solution to Kosovo’s issue.
Before meeting Putin, in their 13th official encounter in several years, and the third since Vucic became the president, he will have another round of talks with Kosovo’s President Hashim Thaci in Brussels, within the framework of the Belgrade – Pristina dialogue facilitated by the European Union, planned for early next month.
The Mayor of the Presevo Valley Bujanovac town told N1 that a longtime lack of willingness to include the ethnic Albanians into the state structures and in the society as a whole left an impression that Serbia didn’t want them.
The Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) has decided that all municipal councils of the DSS should break local coalitions with the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), reports Serbian media.
DSS President Milos Jovanovic told reporters that the coalition with the Progressives was broken up in 14 municipalities.
Belgrade does not know what Pristina is going to do in the next stage of the dialogue on normalizing relations, a senior Serbian Foreign Ministry official said on Friday.
Foreign Ministry General Secretary Veljko Odalovic said that ''it’s obvious that there is no clear signal from Pristina about the dialogue''.
''We don’t know what will happen,'' he said and added: ''We are waiting for some document and given the political climate in Pristina we don’t know what we are going to get''.
The head of Serbia’s Parliament Kosovo Committee said that a final stage of Belgrade – Pristina dialogue was approaching and that the diplomatic activities should increase, adding that Serbia would not allow Kosovo to become a UN member.
Milovan Drecun, of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), added that the final status discussion demanded a new format of negotiations.
Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic met with his Mozambican counterpart Jose Condungua Pacheco and a group of business people in that country’s capital Maputo.
Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj discussed on Thursday an overall situation in Kosovo, especially security issues, with the leaders of local Serbs, his cabinet said in a statement carried by Kossev website.
The recent arrests of Serbs in Kosovo are part of the pressure on the local Serbs, Serbian Internal Affairs Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic told Belgrade based TV Prva on Thursday, reports Serbian media.
According to the minister, the Serbs are being pressured into accepting the forming of a Kosovo military and into considering whether there is room for them in Kosovo.
The European Union and Serbia agreed on Monday that the Western Balkans Transport Community headquarters would be in Belgrade, the Beta news agency reported.
The block and Belgrade clinched the deal during the EU Summit on Western Balkans taking part in London in the presence of Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic.