Jeremić responds to Feith comments

FM Vuk Jeremic today commented on Pieter Feith's claim that he was surprised by the statement of Serbian President Boris Tadic regarding Kosovo talks. Feith addressed a committee of the European Parliament on Thursday in his capacity of EU's special representative in Kosovo. He is also the head of the International Civilian Office (ICO) in Pristina. Jeremic responds to Feith comments Feith expressed surprise at Tadic's statement made during the OSCE summit in Astana this week, when the Serbian president warned that the future Belgrade-Pristina dialogue could fall through if there was an attempt to force a change of "the situation on the ground". Jeremic said that Tadic meant that "there can be no talks with someone who is committing violence against you". Addressing reporters after his meeting with visiting Cypriot Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou, Jeremic pointed out that “there can be no dialogue if the Albanian side at any time attempts to engage in violence in any part of the territory.“ According to Jeremic, this is "another unsettling statement from Feith that could be interpreted as a call to violence". "International representatives in the province should be careful with the statements they give, because they could seriously destabilize the already fragile situation in the province," Jeremic believes. "Serbia's stance is clear - we want to arrive at a solution through dialogue," Jeremic stressed and added that the Serbian side has been ready to open dialogue for weeks, "and is just waiting on the Kosovo Albanians". Vuk Jeremic (Tanjug, file) Feith statement "sabotage of dialogue" Serbian MFA Political Director Borko Stefanovic says EU Kosovo representative Pieter Feith's statements aimed to "sabotage the start of the dialogue". Stefanovic was reacting to Feith's address to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament on Thursday, when he expressed surprise at President Boris Tadic's warning that "any attempt to change the situation on the ground (in Kosovo)" would result in an interruption of the dialogue. Belgrade and Pristina are planning to start the talks, but no date has been set. Belgrade has appointed Stefanovic as its team chief. "Tadic actually said that any unilateral attempt to change the situation by force will result in immediate termination of the dialogue," Stefanovic said. "This is a clear and frequently repeated stand, shared by many countries which are Serbia's partners. It is consequently unclear why Feith was surprised, and why he attempted to sabotage the start of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and to misinterpret Serbia's stand," Stefanovic told Tanjug news agency in Belgrade late on Thursday. He also emphasized that Feith's statement was "untrue and constituted abuse". "This is not the first time Feith resorted to such things," Stefanovic said. "It is completely unacceptable for someone to try to to change the situation by force and thus undermine the dialogue and its prospects, while Belgrade and Pristina are trying to resolve accumulated problems and to begin their dialogue," he said. "It seems that Feith misunderstood or misread Tadic's statement," Stefanovic noted. Commenting Feith's reference to "parallel structures in northern Kosovo" - Serbs there who are calling for a boycott of the upcoming elections in organized by the Kosovo Alabiana authortieis, Stefanovic said that no parallel structures called for a boycott of the upcoming elections. "There are no parallel structures," said the MFA director. "The Serbian government has made its stand on Kosovo elections clear. Any other interpretation is either wrong, a misunderstanding or abuse of the media," Stefanovic concluded.

Jeremić responds to Feith comments

Feith expressed surprise at Tadić's statement made during the OSCE summit in Astana this week, when the Serbian president warned that the future Belgrade-Priština dialogue could fall through if there was an attempt to force a change of "the situation on the ground".

Jeremić said that Tadić meant that "there can be no talks with someone who is committing violence against you".

Addressing reporters after his meeting with visiting Cypriot Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou, Jeremić pointed out that “there can be no dialogue if the Albanian side at any time attempts to engage in violence in any part of the territory.“

According to Jeremić, this is "another unsettling statement from Feith that could be interpreted as a call to violence".

"International representatives in the province should be careful with the statements they give, because they could seriously destabilize the already fragile situation in the province," Jeremić believes.

"Serbia's stance is clear - we want to arrive at a solution through dialogue," Jeremić stressed and added that the Serbian side has been ready to open dialogue for weeks, "and is just waiting on the Kosovo Albanians".

Feith statement "sabotage of dialogue"

Serbian MFA Political Director Borko Stefanović says EU Kosovo representative Pieter Feith's statements aimed to "sabotage the start of the dialogue".

Stefanović was reacting to Feith's address to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament on Thursday, when he expressed surprise at President Boris Tadić's warning that "any attempt to change the situation on the ground (in Kosovo)" would result in an interruption of the dialogue.

Belgrade and Priština are planning to start the talks, but no date has been set. Belgrade has appointed Stefanović as its team chief.

"Tadić actually said that any unilateral attempt to change the situation by force will result in immediate termination of the dialogue," Stefanović said.

"This is a clear and frequently repeated stand, shared by many countries which are Serbia's partners. It is consequently unclear why Feith was surprised, and why he attempted to sabotage the start of the dialogue between Belgrade and Priština and to misinterpret Serbia's stand," Stefanović told Tanjug news agency in Belgrade late on Thursday.

He also emphasized that Feith's statement was "untrue and constituted abuse".

"This is not the first time Feith resorted to such things," Stefanović said.

"It is completely unacceptable for someone to try to to change the situation by force and thus undermine the dialogue and its prospects, while Belgrade and Priština are trying to resolve accumulated problems and to begin their dialogue," he said.

"It seems that Feith misunderstood or misread Tadić's statement," Stefanović noted.

Commenting Feith's reference to "parallel structures in northern Kosovo" - Serbs there who are calling for a boycott of the upcoming elections in organized by the Kosovo Alabiana authortieis, Stefanović said that no parallel structures called for a boycott of the upcoming elections.

"There are no parallel structures," said the MFA director.

"The Serbian government has made its stand on Kosovo elections clear. Any other interpretation is either wrong, a misunderstanding or abuse of the media," Stefanović concluded.