Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic says he will support the government unconditionally "if rejects as absurd" Pristina's conditions for continued dialogue.

In a statement for Friday's edition of the Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti, Nikolic noted that the interim institutions in Pristina "wrongly appraised that the time is right to set conditions without which no further steps can be made in the (Kosovo) negotiations."

As many as one third of EU members are blocking the continuation of the procedures for the opening of Chapter 31 in Serbia's accession negotiations.

The Belgrade-based daily Vecernje Novosti writes this on Thursday.

Chapter 31 relates to foreign policy and security, and taking the leading role among those blocking it are Germany, Great Britain and the countries of the former Warsaw Pact - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania, said the article.

The Serbian government will hold an urgent session on Thursday regarding "the scandalous demands" presented by the representative of Pristina, Beta reported.

The head of the Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric announced this late on Wednesday, saying he had briefed Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic on these new conditions for resuming the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

They were presented by Edita Tahiri, a minister without portfolio in the government in Pristina.

For a couple of days last month, uninformed tourists visiting Serbia could easily have believed that the country is a Russian outpost.

Former Croatian Prime Minister and former leader of the SDP party Zoran Milanovic is offering his services as a consultant to Pristina and Tirana.

According to media reports, Milanovic wants to help them in the process of EU integration.

The Albanian language daily from Pristina Gazeta Express writes that he is currently offering his consulting services "in various South East Europe countries."

Serbia wants to continue on the path of European integration, President Tomislav Nikolic has said.

However, "it would not be good anyone to condition Serbia with the recognition of Kosovo," Beta reported him as noting on Monday in Belgrade.

According to a statement issued by the president's office, "that will never be accepted."

Preliminary observations by the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Karima Bennoune, at the end of her October 3-14 visit to Serbia and Kosovo*

(*) Throughout this document, the reference to Kosovo shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999) and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo

The first day of a new round of dialogue at the technical level between Belgrade and Pristina ended in Brussels on Wednesday afternoon.

During the negotiations, the Serbian side insisted on discussing the issue of the Trepca mining basin, which Pristina refused to do.

Therefore, this issue was discussed with the EU - the mediator in the Kosovo dialogue - and on that occasion representatives of the EU reiterated that they "took note" of Serbia's position.

"I have acknowledged it," was Aleksandar Vucic's response when asked about the objections made in EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini's report.

The report in question concerns the priorities of EU's common foreign and security policy for 2016.

Marko Djuric says it is "impermissible" for Edita Tahiri's report on Brussels agreement implementation to be included in the Chapter 35 negotiating framework.

Tahiri is a minister in the Kosovo government, in charge of the ongoing Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, while the chapter in question, a part of Serbia's EU accession negotiations, relates to Kosovo.