Serbia stands “good chances” of getting EU talks date

BELGRADE Deputy PM Suzana Grubjesic says the dialogue with Pristina is like “waling a thin line” but that Serbia still has good chances of getting an EU talks date. “Time to reach agreements is limited, let alone to implement them. A more difficult period is coming, though there have been no easy periods in the dialogue, neither in technical nor political,” she pointed out. Serbia stands “good chances” of getting EU talks date “I expect us to do what is possible – to reach some compromise. A compromise is always a victory in politics, not a defeat,” Grubjesic said. She noted that Serbia would “walk a thin line” until April when EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton Should submit her report. “The dialogue itself is like walking a thin line because you are trying to defend at least a minimum of your national and state interests on one side, and on the other you are making room for a permanent and sustainable solution, some permanent agreement with Kosovo Albanians. It is difficult to balance but it is a responsible work and work for responsible politicians,” the deputy PM stressed. According to her, failure to get a date for the start of the EU accession negotiations would jeopardize the dynamics of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. When asked if the government would be destabilized if the country did not get a date for the beginning of the EU talks, Grubjesic said that she would not expect anything “dramatic” because the date “is not a matter of life or death for Serbia”. “Are some going to be disappointed? Yes, but politicians do not have the right to be disappointed, they should continue to work, to fight for the state interests but I think citizens’ support (to the EU integration), which is not enviable, would drop,” she explained. “If it happens that we do not get a date now or we get some conditional date, which is a consolation prize, we will not give up,” Grubjesic stated. She reiterated that nothing major had been agreed in the dialogue despite the fact that Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci presented various details of the talks. The deputy prime minister said that the problem was the fact that there was no agreement on a community of Serb municipalities and its authorities, adding that Albanians would like the community not to have any jurisdiction. “They do not respect the agreement and want their liaison officer in Belgrade to have diplomatic status which we cannot agree to and did not agree to in Brussels,” Grubjesic concluded. Suzana Grubjesic (Beta, file) Beta

Serbia stands “good chances” of getting EU talks date

“I expect us to do what is possible – to reach some compromise. A compromise is always a victory in politics, not a defeat,” Grubješić said.

She noted that Serbia would “walk a thin line” until April when EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton Should submit her report.

“The dialogue itself is like walking a thin line because you are trying to defend at least a minimum of your national and state interests on one side, and on the other you are making room for a permanent and sustainable solution, some permanent agreement with Kosovo Albanians. It is difficult to balance but it is a responsible work and work for responsible politicians,” the deputy PM stressed.

According to her, failure to get a date for the start of the EU accession negotiations would jeopardize the dynamics of the Belgrade-Priština dialogue.

When asked if the government would be destabilized if the country did not get a date for the beginning of the EU talks, Grubješić said that she would not expect anything “dramatic” because the date “is not a matter of life or death for Serbia”.

“Are some going to be disappointed? Yes, but politicians do not have the right to be disappointed, they should continue to work, to fight for the state interests but I think citizens’ support (to the EU integration), which is not enviable, would drop,” she explained.

“If it happens that we do not get a date now or we get some conditional date, which is a consolation prize, we will not give up,” Grubješić stated.

She reiterated that nothing major had been agreed in the dialogue despite the fact that Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci presented various details of the talks.

The deputy prime minister said that the problem was the fact that there was no agreement on a community of Serb municipalities and its authorities, adding that Albanians would like the community not to have any jurisdiction.

“They do not respect the agreement and want their liaison officer in Belgrade to have diplomatic status which we cannot agree to and did not agree to in Brussels,” Grubješić concluded.