Serbian Minister without portfolio Nenad Popovic said on Tuesday that the time is right to take the Kosovo issue back to the United Nations after the European Union failed in its moderation efforts, Serbian media reported.

“The EU has failed as moderator in the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina and now is the right moment to return the Kosovo issue back where it belongs – the UN,” Popovic said in Moscow. He is part of the delegation that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has brought with him to the Russian capital.

First Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic took part on Monday in the 69th session of the Executive Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Dacic underlined Serbia "strong support to the untiring work of the UNHCR" and said the international community must "redouble its efforts to promote human rights and demonstrate solidarity without prejudice and selectivity, with the aim of harmonizing different views and addressing the causes and effects of the (migrant) crisis."

According to the latest data, in Serbia, without Kosovo and Metohija, there are 199.584 internally displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija, Tanjug news agency reported.

Out of this number, 68.514 persons, respectively 16.644 families are in state of need, they do not have housing solution and adequate incomes to provide such housing.

The US Ambassador in Belgrade, Kyle Scott said today there are no guarantees Washington would accept just any solution reached by Belgrade and Pristina, TV N1 reports.

Ambassador Scott noted the American administration is open to every solution that the two sides reach but added that this does not guarantee support for the solution from Washington “because we don’t know what we’re talking about”.

“A local solution is the best solution. Only a solution by the Serbian and Kosovo side will be lasting and can be implemented,” Ambassador Scott said.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic denied claims that she never mentioned UN Security Council Resolution 1244 on Kosovo at the UN General Assembly session, TV N1 reported

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was too early to talk about whether Russia would provide assistance to Serbia.

First the meeting should be held by the presidents of Russia and Serbia Vladimir Putin and Aleksandar Vucic, the spokesman said in reply to Radip Govorit Moskva, which asked whether Russia will provide assistance to Serbia in connection to the latest deterioration of the situation in Kosovo.

Sputnik recalled that it was announced earlier Aleksandar Vucic intended to seek support from Vladimir Putin for resolving the situation in Kosovo and Metohija.

The solution to the Kosovo issue, which implies change of borders, is possible only if the EU and the UNSC agree on it, beside Belgrade and Pristina.

This has been stated by David McAllister, the rapporteur for Serbia in the European Parliament.

When asked by Tanjug about the position regarding a possible border correction as part of the solution to the Kosovo issue, he said that the EU was "aware of the possibility of exchanging territories and moving borders."

Kosovo Foreign Minister Beghjet Pacolli told Prva TV there should be no borders between Kosovo and Serbia and “the ball should be moved to the economic field.”

Responding to a question, how far solution to the Kosovo issue is at the moment, Minister Pacolli said we are close, but at the same time far away.

The Insajder portal reported that the report of the Survey Committee on abuses of funds from the Serbian budget intended for Kosovo, which practically confirmed Insajder's research on the abuse of this money, has not even been included on the agenda of the Serbian Assembly for four years.

By: Robert Cooper

Opinions cost nothing, but it is not our opinions that matter - let's not take sides before we know what has been proposed.