A possible meeting between Kosovo’s and Serbia’s presidents under the European Union’s auspices by June 25 could help Belgrade open new chapters in its accession talks with Brussels, a daily reported on Friday.
Serbia’s Minister for European Integration, Jadranka Joksimovic, told Danas daily she would present the country’s activities thus far regarding the chapters 23 and 24 related to the rule of law, next week.
A broad consensus and the will of a majority in our society must exist for a legally binding agreement with Pristina to be reached.
President Aleksandar Vucic said this in an interview published on Wednesday by Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti.
Asked whether Serbia could sign a legally-binding agreement with the so-called "Kosovo" - and still not be allowed to join the EU, the Serbian president replied that he "would not view it as a barter."
President Aleksandar Vucic and Serbia all the time point out and warn that Pristina is not interested in technical or other negotiations, and that they are not interested in the signed agreement on the Community/Association of Serb Municipalities (ZSO), says the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and European Parliament Rapporteur, David McAllister assessed last night Serbia is progressing on its path towards the EU, however, rule of law reforms and Kosovo remain the major challenges, BETA news agency reported.
At a joint press conference, McAllister said that 2018 is a crucial year for the Western Balkans, as it is in the focus of EU again, and has an opportunity to realize its European perspective.
We will be ready to talk to Albanians at any time, but we expect the Brussels agreement to be fulfilled, says President Aleksandar Vucic.
According to him, Albanians say that they have no intention of fulfilling the obligations from the Brussels agreement, "which says they have courage and daring, but also someone's support."
Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic stressed on Thursday that his country's "key and overarching goal" is full membership to the EU.
Another goal is to open as many EU accession negotiations chapter as possible as soon as possible, Dacic told a meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative and the Ministerial Meeting of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region, held in Catania, Sicily.
Serbia and the Western Balkans have a clear European perspective and France will continue its support to the regional European path, Franch official has said on Tuesday.
Jean Bizet, a member of the Senat of France, also said that it was necessary for Belgrade and Pristina to continue the dialogue and, with the EU stronger support, to find a solution acceptable to both sides.
Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Tuesday that there is pressure on Serbia to reach an agreement with Pristina this or next year.
However, he said, Belgrade will not barter in terms of Kosovo and Metohija "for the sake of EU membership deadlines."
Dacic told RTS that countries that recognized the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo are wrong when they claim that the process is irreversible.
The EU-Balkan Summit in Sofia, conceived as Thessaloniki 2, is very disappointing because there has been no reaffirmation of the prospects of Balkan countries' membership in the EU, says Toby Vogel, a researcher of the Brussels-based Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) for Radio Free Europe, daily Blic reports.
The work on the Statute of the Community/Association of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) runs smoothly, and as for the Management Team, the Statute can be completed as planned, until August, says the Minister of Local Self-Government in the Pristina's Institutions Ivan Todosijevic for Belgrade based daily Vecernje Novosti.
He notes that although he is the responsible minister, the Brussels agreements do not leave space for him to insist on seeing the text of the statute before it is presented in a high-level dialogue.