No secret agreements with Priština, team chief claims

Belgrade team chief Borislav Stefanovic has stated that no secret agreements were reached in Brussels. He pointed out that the Belgrade- Pristina talks needed to continue but that they should be taken to a higher, political level. No secret agreements with Pristina, team chief claims Stefanovic criticized “an attempt to abuse and manipulate the situation with existence of some secret documents from Brussels” and added that “the Kosovo issue cannot be solved with shouting of slogans, rally-like rhetoric and principled support”. He told Tanjug that the allegations that there were some secret documents from Brussels “only serve to get political points”. According to him, political coordination and cooperation between the Serbian president and the government regarding the Kosovo issue is absolutely necessary at the moment. Stefanovic said that the new government or the president would decide who would be the next team chief in the talks with Pristina. “It will not be simple and it is important who will lead the negotiations. If this is a person who thinks that they will start the negotiations by giving ultimatums about everything we need and by refusing any compromise, it is better not to start the process at all because it would be condemned to failure in advance,” he explained. The team chief noted that the issues that are yet to be discussed in the dialogue are very concrete and that everything needed to be done in order to solve them in a way that would leave Serbia’s interests intact. “We are getting into a situation where we should resolve the issue of northern Kosovo, special guarantees for Serbs south of the Ibar River, the issue of monasteries and churches and the issue of our property,” he said. Stefanovic stressed that Belgrade would by solving these issues fully regulate its relations with Pristina. He warned that President Tomislav Nikolic’s statement that he could lead the negotiations as a president was “dangerous because he would that way de facto recognize Kosovo’s independence”. “If two presidents sit down and talk, even if the other one (Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga) is not a president for us, he would de facto recognize Kosovo’s independence,” the team chief warned. Commenting on a meeting between Nikolic and representatives of northern Kosovo Serbs, he said that it was absolutely not true that there were some secret elements in the Brussels documents. He added that all the agreements from Brussels had been handed over to the Serbian parliament after they had been adopted by the government and that the negotiating team representatives had explained and elaborated on them nine times at a plenary session and at the Parliamentary Committee on Kosovo. “I claim, with full criminal and moral responsibility, that there are no secrets,” Stefanovic underscored. He added that the northern Kosovo Serbs had been disappointed after the meeting with the president. “I am sure they expected to hear some phenomenal secret plan for Kosovo from President Nikolic,” the team head noted. Borislav Stefanovic (Tanjug, file) Tanjug

No secret agreements with Priština, team chief claims

Stefanović criticized “an attempt to abuse and manipulate the situation with existence of some secret documents from Brussels” and added that “the Kosovo issue cannot be solved with shouting of slogans, rally-like rhetoric and principled support”.

He told Tanjug that the allegations that there were some secret documents from Brussels “only serve to get political points”.

According to him, political coordination and cooperation between the Serbian president and the government regarding the Kosovo issue is absolutely necessary at the moment.

Stefanović said that the new government or the president would decide who would be the next team chief in the talks with Priština.

“It will not be simple and it is important who will lead the negotiations. If this is a person who thinks that they will start the negotiations by giving ultimatums about everything we need and by refusing any compromise, it is better not to start the process at all because it would be condemned to failure in advance,” he explained.

The team chief noted that the issues that are yet to be discussed in the dialogue are very concrete and that everything needed to be done in order to solve them in a way that would leave Serbia’s interests intact.

“We are getting into a situation where we should resolve the issue of northern Kosovo, special guarantees for Serbs south of the Ibar River, the issue of monasteries and churches and the issue of our property,” he said.

Stefanović stressed that Belgrade would by solving these issues fully regulate its relations with Priština.

He warned that President Tomislav Nikolić’s statement that he could lead the negotiations as a president was “dangerous because he would that way de facto recognize Kosovo’s independence”.

“If two presidents sit down and talk, even if the other one (Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga) is not a president for us, he would de facto recognize Kosovo’s independence,” the team chief warned.

Commenting on a meeting between Nikolić and representatives of northern Kosovo Serbs, he said that it was absolutely not true that there were some secret elements in the Brussels documents.

He added that all the agreements from Brussels had been handed over to the Serbian parliament after they had been adopted by the government and that the negotiating team representatives had explained and elaborated on them nine times at a plenary session and at the Parliamentary Committee on Kosovo.

“I claim, with full criminal and moral responsibility, that there are no secrets,” Stefanović underscored.

He added that the northern Kosovo Serbs had been disappointed after the meeting with the president.

“I am sure they expected to hear some phenomenal secret plan for Kosovo from President Nikolić,” the team head noted.