Ivan Vejvoda, associate of the Institute of Social Sciences in Vienna, told RTK2 that frequent visits by international officials to Belgrade and Pristina are aimed at encouraging the continuation of a dialogue that will lead to finding a mutually acceptable solution that must be verified by the UN Security Council.
NATO aggression was a grave crime against a small sovereign country, but 20 years on, the Serb people remain unbowed, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said. He stated this at the opening of the 4th Belgrade Strategic Dialogue.
"Serbia and the Serb people are still unbowed today, but today we are in the process of a comprehensive process of state consolidation and I am convinced of a safe and successful future," Vucic emphasized.
NATO has plans to neither reduce presence of its forces nor KFOR Mission in Kosovo, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told Serbian Prva TV, adding the reason of NATO presence in Kosovo is to protect all the people and the Serbian community.
There was never a talk with representatives of the international community about what Serbia would like as an outcome in the negotiations with Pristina, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said in an interview for Sunday's edition of the Belgrade based daily Politika, answering the question of whether in the past the issue of the Serbian position has been raised in discussions with influential Western officials.
First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic met on Saturday with Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Jorge Arreaza. FM Arreaza is on a bilateral visit to Serbia, where he was also received by a number of cabinet ministers, including Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin.
Dacic expressed his satisfaction with the visit and underlined that Serbia and Venezuela enjoy a long friendship, which is reflected in the mutual support in the international arena, the government said on its website.
Kosovo issue is rather complex, and it is impossible to find a solution to it overnight, Russian Ambassador to Serbia, Alexander Chepurin said on Saturday. He added the platform Pristina has recently adopted was completely unrealistic and that, at the current moment, the only solution according to the international law was the UN Security Council Resolution 1244.
Measures of Pristina authorities represent “tightening the noose” to the Serbs and their systematic expulsion “by creating unbearable conditions in the spirit of an ethnic cleansing,” Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, BETA news agency reported.
At the regular Foreign Affairs Ministry press briefing, Zakharova urged international forces in Kosovo to implement their mandate and do not allow “violence against the Kosovo Serbs.” She also noted international forces were not preventing violence against the Serbs even before.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic thanked Foreign Affairs Minister of Grenada Peter Charles David for the support to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia, Tanjug news agency reported.
He also added decision of Grenada to revoke recognition of unilaterally declared Kosovo independence and thus give advantage to finding a compromise solution through dialogue is an evidence of a principled stance to respecting the international law. Vucic further noted it is of particular importance that Grenade shows that support within international organizations as well.
Russian Ambassador in Belgrade Alexander Chepurin wrote on Twitter yesterday that Pristina’s dialogue platform for negotiations with Belgrade is a list of ultimatums and demands, FoNet news agency reported.
He added that the platform is a clear rejection of the dialogue to resolve the Kosovo issue. Ambassador Chepurin also noted that Pristina won’t be able to sustain the pressure with that platform, adding that fantasies can’t be in line with a reality.
The security situation in Kosovo is relatively stable despite the high number of attacks against the Serbs and non-Albanians as well as their properties over the last year, the Serbian Internal Affairs Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said on Thursday, BETA news agency reported.
Stefanovic, who was presenting Internal Ministry annual report for 2018 said at the meeting of the Serbian Parliament Defense and Security Committee that the attacks included physical assaults, arson, attacks on religious holy shrines, destruction of properties, threats and provocation.