Dacic: Some countries are telling Haradinaj - don't do it yet (Tanjug, B92)
Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic says that "not everyone in the international community wants the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina to continue." And not everybody wants to find a solution for Kosovo and Metohija, he remarked on Friday in Belgrade.
Dacic also pointed out that some countries are playing "a double game." The minister responded in this way when asked "how it was possible that neither the US nor the EU and other major players are able to force Pristina to withdraw its taxes on Serbian goods."
"I do not believe that this is exactly the case, I have already expressed doubts that this is a double game, and now we need to determine who plays these double games and what is their goal," Dacic said.
According to him, not everyone is interested in revoking of the taxes a prerequisite for the continuation of the dialogue. "We have a multiplication of various geopolitical problems, it's no longer just a matter of the East and the West intertwining there, but also of different interests within the West," head of Serbia's diplomacy said.
He stated that some countries are encouraging Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj not to abolish the taxes, precisely in order not to continue the dialogue. "Some countries are telling him - don't do it yet," Dacic said, adding that "some countries are telling Pristina to wait for the cancellation of the taxes until after the EU elections."
According to the minister, it is obvious that Germany and the UK "do not share enthusiasm for various reasons when it comes to quickly finding a solution."
"Ones are against it because of the elections, the others because new people will come to lead EU bodies, while yet others are against because they oppose the principle of delimitation and are in favor of Kosovo not changing its borders."
"We are the biggest supporters of not changing the borders Kosovo - it's just that they violated this principle a long time ago, now you thought of not changing borders. It would be as if Saddam Hussein took Kuwait, and then said, 'no more changing of borders'," Dacic said.
He added that the question of how it was possible that the taxes are surviving now is logical, as well as why pressure from the international community isn't effective - and assessed that this is because there are no clear-cut measures against Pristina, which why the taxes will not be revoked.
"It is most important for us to reach a solution through dialogue, not through unilateral solutions," Dacic said.