Bogdanović confident of Kosovo resolution agreement

Kosovo Minister Goran Bogdanovic is confident that an agreement on the draft Kosovo resolution will be reached. Bogdanovic made the comments to Deutsche Welle ahead of today’s consultations with political party representatives. Bogdanovic confident of Kosovo resolution agreement Initial consultations with opposition MPs were held on September 18, when it was agreed that MP groups would submit their own suggestions and objections. Speaker Slavica Djukic Dejanovic announced that she would schedule a parliamentary session on October 1 to debate the draft Kosovo resolution. Djukic Dejanovic added that if the parties failed to agree on the text, she would include the draft resolution proposed by the Serb Radical Party (SRS), Democratic Party of Serbia (SRS) and New Serbia on the session’s agenda. "Our policy on Kosovo should be a rallying point, where we put all our political differences aside. It is in our best interests to establish as broad a front on this as possible, particularly when it comes to MP groups,” Bogdanovic said. He expects the consultations to bring substantive proposals from all parliamentary parties, and that a united position on Kosovo will be reached. "I believe that this resolution should not belong to just one party, one coalition or one ministry. That’s why we withdrew the government’s proposal. We want to maintain the consensus on Kosovo, because besides EU integration, this is the number one issue of national importance,” Bogdanovic stressed. The minister said that the Serbian delegation faced a tough job when it came to its initiative before the UN General Assembly to seek the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion on the legality of Kosovo’s unilaterally declared independence. "We have already accomplished part of that job, by getting the initiative on the UN General Assembly session’s agenda. We believe that the initiative will succeed, and that we will send a clear message to all the countries that have recognized Kosovo that they may have made the wrong decision,” he said, adding that another message would be that Serbia was ready to resume negotiations. "What we had in the last year or two were not negotiations. We expect proper talks where both sides will win something, and not just one,” he said. "We are aware that it will be tough, but we have our goals and interests. The outcome depends both on us and on the international situation. The arguments are on our side, but it can happen that arguments don’t mean anything, and that lobbying and force win the day. We are interested in the issue of the province’s status, technical issues and everyday problems,” the minister underlined. Goran Bogdanovic (FoNet, archive)

Bogdanović confident of Kosovo resolution agreement

Initial consultations with opposition MPs were held on September 18, when it was agreed that MP groups would submit their own suggestions and objections.

Speaker Slavica Đukić Dejanović announced that she would schedule a parliamentary session on October 1 to debate the draft Kosovo resolution. Đukić Dejanović added that if the parties failed to agree on the text, she would include the draft resolution proposed by the Serb Radical Party (SRS), Democratic Party of Serbia (SRS) and New Serbia on the session’s agenda.

"Our policy on Kosovo should be a rallying point, where we put all our political differences aside. It is in our best interests to establish as broad a front on this as possible, particularly when it comes to MP groups,” Bogdanović said.

He expects the consultations to bring substantive proposals from all parliamentary parties, and that a united position on Kosovo will be reached.

"I believe that this resolution should not belong to just one party, one coalition or one ministry. That’s why we withdrew the government’s proposal. We want to maintain the consensus on Kosovo, because besides EU integration, this is the number one issue of national importance,” Bogdanović stressed.

The minister said that the Serbian delegation faced a tough job when it came to its initiative before the UN General Assembly to seek the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion on the legality of Kosovo’s unilaterally declared independence.

"We have already accomplished part of that job, by getting the initiative on the UN General Assembly session’s agenda. We believe that the initiative will succeed, and that we will send a clear message to all the countries that have recognized Kosovo that they may have made the wrong decision,” he said, adding that another message would be that Serbia was ready to resume negotiations.

"What we had in the last year or two were not negotiations. We expect proper talks where both sides will win something, and not just one,” he said.

"We are aware that it will be tough, but we have our goals and interests. The outcome depends both on us and on the international situation. The arguments are on our side, but it can happen that arguments don’t mean anything, and that lobbying and force win the day. We are interested in the issue of the province’s status, technical issues and everyday problems,” the minister underlined.