Europe and the US have tried to put the Western Balkans in order but were unable to do so, and that’s why the region needs a new approach which will recognise the seriousness of the problem and accept that a solution will demand a long time and substantial means, experts agree, the Beta news agency reported on Wednesday.
Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic said late on Monday he informed the Holy Synod of the Serb Orthodox Church about "all my worries," adding Patriarch Irinej, who said Vucic's fight for Kosovo was heroic, understood him well, N1 reported.
Vucic was present at the Holy Synod annual meeting in the Patriarchy in Belgrade.
President Aleksandar Vucic confirmed on Sunday he would address the Serbian Orthodox Church’s Holy Synod on Monday, thanking Patriarch Irinej for inviting him to join the meeting.
This is a great honour and an opportunity to speak the truth, and to respond to untruths, said Vucic.
Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia’s President, said in Berlin on Tuesday Kosovo could not consolidate itself as a state without Serbia, the Belgrade-based news agency reported.
He said Serbia had been internationally recognised country and a UN member state, so it did not need Kosovo’s recognition.
Ivica Dacic, Serbia’s Foreign Minister, said on Tuesday the mini-summit of the Western Balkans' leaders held in Berlin was not an adequate format for the Belgrade – Pristina dialogue on normalisation of relations, the Beta news agency reported.
He told Serbia's state RTS television the Berlin meeting had been chosen as a “preparation” for the organisers’ total pressure on Serbia.
President Aleksandar Vucic says he does not think there was "any failure" at Monday's meeting in Berlin - adding that it's better to talk than not to talk.
Responding to question from journalists after the summit ended in Berlin, Vucic said that Angela Merkel's and Emmanuel Macron's engagement was very important and showed their determination to preserve peace in the Western Balkans, as by that they also preserve peace in Europe.
The goal of the Western Balkans summit in Berlin is get the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue moving, European Commissioner Johannes Hahn told the German DPA news agency.
The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church said that he does not belong to any political side and urged unity for the sake of the survival of the Serb nation.
“I do not belong to any political side. I would like and I pray that there will be no divisions among us but a single policy, a single view and one path – the good of our people,” Patriarch Irinej said in an Easter interview to TV Hram which has been published on Good Friday.
The Coalition of journalists’ and media associations called on public on Thursday to defend professional media and journalists who had been exposed to insults, serious threats and whose safety was jeopardised, the Beta news agency reported.
In its statement, the Coalition said that in the last several days only, some journalists were publicly lynched on social networks which had been masterminded and organised "in the manner of Joseph Goebbels."
Ivica Dacic said that it is expected that at the upcoming meeting in Berlin, probably would be additional pressure on Belgrade and Pristina to continue the dialogue.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia told Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) that Pristina must abolish the tariffs for this to happen.
"There are additional pressures on Serbia in order to appease Pristina to suspend the tariffs, " Dacic said.