Croatian ‘Jutarnji list’ portal analyses political scene of both Belgrade and Pristina, announcing possible "boiling political fall", quotes Serbian media.
This paper reminds that Kosovo will face general election in a month, in the same time, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced government reconstruction, while media speculate on a possible new election.
Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic met today with Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Serbia, Mochammad Chandra Widya and discussed bilateral relations as well as advancing general cooperation between the two countries, RTS reports.
Brnabic welcomed the newly appointed ambassador and noted how much Serbia appreciates principled stance of Indonesia on Kosovo and Metohija. She added that such support and respect of the international law give Serbia additional motive in searching the ways to reach a compromise solution between Belgrade and Pristina.
Serbian citizens do not need visas to travel to 71 countries and holders of diplomatic passports can travel visa-free to 93 countries Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic told the Serbian Parliament on Wednesday, BETA news agency reports.
Dacic was presenting to the Parliament proposal to abolish visas for nationals of number of other countries. He said the visa-free regime was in place for Serbian citizens travelling to all European Union countries except Great Britain and Ireland as well as Russia, China, Brazil, the Ukraine among others.
Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Marko Djuric said the European Union should react to the statements of Pristina officials that they would not permit Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to visit Kosovo, Danas daily reports.
Commenting on the statement of the outgoing Kosovo Foreign Minister adviser Jetlir Zyberaj that Kosovo will not permit the visit of the Serbian President Vucic before the upcoming Kosovo elections, Djuric said that Pristina institutions’ representatives brag about something they should be ashamed of – impeding the freedom of movement.
The Fatherland (Otazbina) People’s Movement of Kosovo Serbs says that it would boycott, as they say, “false elections” announced the beginning of 2020 and called the Kosovo Serbs and displaced persons not to turn out to vote.
The movement is a member of the Serbian opposition Alliance for Serbia (SzS).
Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary General Veljko Odalovic said that Vladimir Cizelj is a man of serious integrity, a patriot, committed to the same goal as an entire Serbian Government and the Serbian President and it is to dismantle “the self-declared Kosovo state”, Danas daily reported.
I do not know what Pristina is guided by, Odalovic said commenting on the announcement that Pristina would seek an international arrest warrant for Cizelj.
Slovakia Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak said that announced signing of the Free Trade Agreement between Serbia and Eurasia does not bring Serbia closer to its strategic goal, which is the EU membership, RTS reports.
“If you are serious about your European orientation then you do not make political choices that do not bring you closer to it. This step is not one of them,” Lajcak noted. He termed the announced signing of the agreement “as confusing” adding “that one cannot move in several directions at the same time.”
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said in Helsinki that the positive outcome of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue is of crucial importance for the European perspective of an entire Western Balkan region, RTS reports.
He urged Pristina authorities once again to revoke the tariffs on the goods from Serbia. “It is crucial that the tariffs are revoked because they are against the spirit of the Union. If it is about united market, there are neither tariffs nor customs. It must be done,” Hahn said.
International Day of Missing Persons is being marked in Serbia. As a consequence of the wars that happened in the region during the nineties 10.167 persons are still uncounted for. Out of this number more than 3.800 persons are of Serb nationality RTS reports today.
RTS added that the families of the missing persons would gather in Belgrade today and request that the truth about their beloved ones is found.
Graves of 1.998 persons are not known yet in Croatia, 1.653 persons are missing in Kosovo and Metohija, while 6.516 persons are missing in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Péter Szijjártó pledged for faster accession of Serbia and the Western Balkans to the EU, Tanjug news agency reports.
“Serbia must be enabled to join the EU even before 2025,” Szijjártó said. He made these remarks in a meeting of the European Union Council in Helsinki, adding that the integration of the Western Balkans must be swift. He also assessed that countries of the region did the best they could to speed up accession process.