Interview with the Director of the Serbian Government's Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Đurić.

Continuation of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina on 9 February is seen by the Serbian side as an opportunity to launch important topics such as Association/Community of Serb municipalities and its statute, along with the review of all unsettled and unimplemented parts of the first Brussels Agreement whose elements should be clarified.

Our wish is to initiate topics which were not on the table so far and I am convinced that this meeting will be used for talks about such issues, along with the talks on the dynamic of continuation of the dialogue. This was the reply of the director of the Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo  and Metohija, Marko Đurić, on Novosti’s question whether Belgrade will have a chance already on 9 February, at the first meeting of the negotiation trio Mogherini-Vucic-Mustafa, to open the issue of property in Kosovo and Meothija, including Trepca.

Belgrade would like to settle Trepca in Brussels, whereas Kosovo Minister for European Integrations says that this topic should be sent to international court…

It seems to me at some moments that they, themselves, can’t agree how to resolve this issue. One day an official says that Trepca is resolved and that it is theirs, and then another day another official says that there won’t be talks over that issue, and in the end the third one mentions arbitrage. If we want full normalization of relations we should be aware that property issues should be settled, not only due to political reasons, but for the sake of the economic ambient. We are completely ready for such discussion.

Is Brussels acquainted with a draft statute of the A/CSM prepared by the steering team for the establishment of the Association/Community and is there understanding for it, since the Albanians side had compiled their own proposal?

We are ready to talk about elements of the statute, and I think that all are more or less acquainted with our view on A/CSM. We should come to final shape of the A/CSM through dialogue. We expect form facilitators to remain unbiased, and from Pristina, in the interest of overall conditions in the southern province, to be ready for compromise, because the A/CSM won’t be to the detriment of Albanians but for the benefit of the entire Kosovo and Metohija. The sooner they realize that, the better it will be. The dialogue is designed in a way that before we appear with final drafts, a solution is found which is acceptable for both sides in order not to raise tensions. We are aware that in the ambient where we have unrest on streets one should be very careful in negotiations. But, no one should try to use protests, caused by internal political relations, as an excuse for the lack of readiness for compromise and for reaching solutions in talks in Brussels.

Isn’t your prediction that A/CSM will be established in three months a bit too optimistic, is that a sufficient time for reaching a compromise?

It is not my prediction, but obligation which was assumed by Mustafa and Thaci by signing the coalition agreement with Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. And, based on this issue, they will show to which extent they are dedicated to normalization of relations.

Which moment, in negotiations with the EU on membership, will be a ‘critical’  one for presenting the new platform on Kosovo and Metohija by the state leadership, in order to prevent situation that our state is faced with a ‘fait accompli’  with regards to recognition of Kosovo?

That is a matter of political assessment which will be decided by the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic.