Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday that Kosovo election campaign would not be easy for Srpska Lista, adding he still expects the leading Serbian party to win – if they decide to participate in the upcoming Kosovo parliamentary elections, KoSSev portal reports.
Columnist Ljiljana Smajlovic tells RTS that as a citizen of Serbia, she cannot help but wonder what the US is looking for in return if they support the abolition of tariffs.
Smajlovic says she is surprised by President Vucic's meeting with Mike Pompeo because it is rare that Serbian presidents or ministers have a meeting with such high-ranking US officials.
The Head of Serbian diplomacy, Ivica Dacic, told Serbian public broadcaster RTS on Friday that this week he will say the name of the 15th country that withdrew the recognition of Kosovo.
Dacic said for RTS that in this moment less than 100 countries acknowledge ''the independence of so-called Kosovo''.
Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Marko Djuric told RTS today Serbs should “monolithic and united” take part in the Kosovo elections, Danas daily reports. Djuric added he is convinced it would be shown, based on the results of Srpska Lista, how much Serbs are attached to their state and how much they want unity and concord with Belgrade.
Djuric also underlined “that the Serbs may have thousand and one political differences in other parts of the country, but in Kosovo we must be monolithic, united and harmonious in the performance towards Albanians”.
Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic told Prva TV “for Pristina authorities the Serbs are always to blame.”
Dacic added he has no information that would confirm accusations of the Kosovo FM Behgjet Pacolli who claims that diplomatic office of Pristina in Copenhagen was attacked by the Serbian citizens in Denmark.
The whole process around Kosovo is unfair, and the culmination of the international community's hypocrisy is the invitation to Belgrade and Pristina to return to dialogue without sanctioning Pristina for disrespecting the agreement and imposing fees, former US ambassador William Montgomery said on the occasion of the Quint announcement.
"The unpleasant reality is that this whole process is not an honest one. It is a sham," Montgomery pointed out.
Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic said Serbia would continue pursuing its policy resulting in revoking recognitions of Kosovo independence, adding that by doing so Serbia does not want to irritate Pristina or the international community, but simply to protect its interests, FoNet news agency reports.
Commenting on Quint states’ message to Belgrade to cease campaign for revoking recognitions of Kosovo Dacic said it indicates that (revoking of recognitions) is true and it hurts them.
US Ambassador to Belgrade Kyle Scott twitted that it was time to put an end to the conflicts of the 1990s and called on Belgrade and Pristina to resume dialogue as soon as possible, Serbian media reports.
"It is time to put an end to the conflicts of the 90s. I urge Kosovo and Serbia to reopen the EU-sponsored dialogue as soon as possible and to refrain from taking steps that hinder an agreement," Scott wrote on Twitter, sharing also yesterday's joint statement by the Quint countries.
In an extraordinary press conference today, Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric said that the Quint countries made clear today the outcome of the dialogue, but that Serbia would nonetheless continue to pursue its internal policies on Kosovo and other issues driven by its own interests.
Djuric agreed with part of the statement regarding the call for the dialogue to resume but added that it should happen after taxes are abolished.
The international community must respect the electoral will of the Serbian people in Kosovo, Chairperson of the Serbian National Assembly Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun said, TV Most reports. Drecun added that the joint statement of Quint member states on mayoral elections in the four northern Kosovo municipalities is an attempt to undermine and diminish the results that Srpska Lista have achieved.