"Fight against Kosovo's independence continues"

"Fight against Kosovo's independence continues"

The Serbs in Kosovo and the government of Serbia, as he said, are "champions of the struggle for normalcy, tolerance, stability and respect of all agreements on Kosovo." According to Djuric, they proved this by "implementing everything that stems from the Brussels process and by participating in parliamentary elections Kosovo."

"Any criticism of the slowness of the progress in these relations must in no case be directed at Belgrade, because the Serbs in Kosovo and Belgrade have shown they are able to make compromises that are sometimes also painful, in order to look further into the future and provide certainty for us all," said Djuric.

According to him, Belgrade wants to help the Serbs in Kosovo in the future period so they are able to conduct their own affairs and take care of themselves in a political sense - "that is, to have the right leadership, and the Serbian government will, as before, provide logistical, administrative and advisory support."

"Now for the first time we have people who sit in the provincial government who clearly and loudly stand behind the attitude that they are provincial ministers, and who do not hide that they talk about their steps with us in Belgrade, and all other relevant factors. In many respects it depends on the quality of their work how much we will be able to take advantage of the opportunity that we've been given," Djuric said.

Commenting on a "platform for Kosovo" announced by the Serbian president, this official stressed that it would arise "from the continuous consultation process between the president and the government on all matters related to the fate of the Serbian people in Kosovo."

In the coming weeks, he said, there will be "a lot of discussion about the tactics and ways to solve the burning problems that are important from the perspective of Belgrade and the Serb community in Kosovo."

As he specified, in addition to the formation of a community of Serb municipalities (ZSO), other such issues include private, state and public property, as well as the questions of importance to the Serbian Orthodox Church.

"We want to resolve the missing persons issue and that of internally displaced persons, where not enough has been done. The list of topics to be discussed is long, and there are things that were discussed in terms of the coalition agreement that were not included in the written part of the text, but it has been agreed that they will be the subject of the talks in Brussels," he said.

According to Djuric, in the period ahead the establishment of the ZSO will be a key precondition for the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, as well as between the Serbs and Kosovo Albanian leaders, "and all those who want long-term stability need to take that into account."

According to him, the first item of the coalition agreement that the new government in Pristina is based upon is that the ZSO will be established within three to five months, "and that speaks of the importance attached to the creation of that community by all who participate in the government."

"The Brussels agreement did not resolve all issues related to the establishment of the community, but it clearly limited and defined its executive powers. We want to create a body that will, as Mrs. Catherine Ashton said, have political strength, and all who sat in those meetings know perfectly what they agreed to, regardless of what they now say publicly," said Djuric.

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija also commented on some of the most urgent problems faced by the Serb community in Kosovo, as well as the functioning of the judiciary, slow economic growth, unsatisfactory pace of return of refugees and internally displaced persons and the question of traveling documents.

He described the court case against Oliver Ivanovic as "an indicator of how twisted the system and institutions in Kosovo are."