President "invites Jahjaga to meeting, informs EU"

BELGRADE President Tomislav Nikolic says that some 20 days ago he "sent an invitation to a meeting to Atifete Jahjaga", and notified Brussels, i.e., the EU, about this. In an interview for the New Year edition of the Belgrade-based daily Politika, Nikolic explained that he informed EU high representative Catherine Ashton and Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule about his invitation to the Kosovo president. President "invites Jahjaga to meeting, informs EU" According to him, "it is of less importance where the meeting would take place, but perhaps both Belgrade and Pristina should be avoided". "As far as I'm concerned, I can go to Pristina and present the (Kosovo) platform to them in the assembly. I have no problem with that," the president said. Stressing that he wished "for us to dedicate ourselves to the solving of the issue of Kosovo and Metohija" as soon as the government was formed, the newspaper writes that Nikolic stated that two meetings were held: "During the first, I asked who will write the platform, and the president of the government (Ivica Dacic) said, 'President, you write it'." "We discussed the text on several occasions and there were no serious objections. Only then I presented it to the opposition," Nikolic explained, and stressed that the platform must not be a document of the ruling coalition, but of the Serbian parliament: "The platform's goal is to end the practice of reaching partial agreement, while at the same time not having an obligation to respect our own documents. I wish to also talk about partial problems, but I know it is optimal for our interests that the partial should be agreed on only when everything has been agreed on." "When you have a framework and when we are told that they wish to discuss telecommunications, we look at the platform and say - alright, we're talking, about energy, the same - we look at the platform. That's a way to avoid a situation where somebody informs us that something had been agreed on, while we do not decide on it and cannot react," Nikolic was quoted as saying. Asked by the newspaper "whether it can be interpreted that he was not satisfied with something that Dacic reached agreements on", the president responded: "He did not reach any agreements, he was merely fulfilling what others had reached agreements on." When the reporter said that Dacic did make agreements - "on customs and liaison officers" - Nikolic stated: "No, it was Borko (Borislav) Stefanovic who reached an agreement on customs. He reached an agreement - I have that paper in the archives - that goods should go through customs according to the laws of Kosovo. That paper is the one weighing on us most heavily. The hardest task for Dacic is that there has been no new subject, and I have been opening up his maneuvering space with the platform." Tomislav Nikolic (Beta, file) Politika Tanjug

President "invites Jahjaga to meeting, informs EU"

According to him, "it is of less importance where the meeting would take place, but perhaps both Belgrade and Priština should be avoided".

"As far as I'm concerned, I can go to Priština and present the (Kosovo) platform to them in the assembly. I have no problem with that," the president said.

Stressing that he wished "for us to dedicate ourselves to the solving of the issue of Kosovo and Metohija" as soon as the government was formed, the newspaper writes that Nikolić stated that two meetings were held:

"During the first, I asked who will write the platform, and the president of the government (Ivica Dačić) said, 'President, you write it'."

"We discussed the text on several occasions and there were no serious objections. Only then I presented it to the opposition," Nikolić explained, and stressed that the platform must not be a document of the ruling coalition, but of the Serbian parliament:

"The platform's goal is to end the practice of reaching partial agreement, while at the same time not having an obligation to respect our own documents. I wish to also talk about partial problems, but I know it is optimal for our interests that the partial should be agreed on only when everything has been agreed on."

"When you have a framework and when we are told that they wish to discuss telecommunications, we look at the platform and say - alright, we're talking, about energy, the same - we look at the platform. That's a way to avoid a situation where somebody informs us that something had been agreed on, while we do not decide on it and cannot react," Nikolić was quoted as saying.

Asked by the newspaper "whether it can be interpreted that he was not satisfied with something that Dačić reached agreements on", the president responded:

"He did not reach any agreements, he was merely fulfilling what others had reached agreements on."

When the reporter said that Dačić did make agreements - "on customs and liaison officers" - Nikolić stated:

"No, it was Borko (Borislav) Stefanović who reached an agreement on customs. He reached an agreement - I have that paper in the archives - that goods should go through customs according to the laws of Kosovo. That paper is the one weighing on us most heavily. The hardest task for Dačić is that there has been no new subject, and I have been opening up his maneuvering space with the platform."