Compromise on Kosovo issue is “possible”

BELGRADE Advisors to the Serbian and Kosovo presidents Marko Djuric and Ramush Tahiri have agreed that it is possible to reach a compromise solution to the Kosovo issue. They believe that a direct communication between Belgrade and Pristina was necessary in order to find such a solution. Compromise on Kosovo issue is “possible” Djuric told Radio Free Europe that it was very important for Belgrade and Pristina to continue the dialogue on all issues. “Our side is open and ambition of the current generation of politicians in Belgrade is to find a compromise solution. In order to achieve that, a direct cooperation is necessary and we have made a significant step forward in the last several months,” he said. When asked if he believed that it was possible to find a compromise solution, Tahiri said: “Of course, I completely agree with what Mr. Djuric said.” When asked what Belgrade would offer in return if Pristina accepted the autonomous community of Serb municipalities in northern Kosovo and if it could be a UN seat, Djuric said that the issue of the UN seat for Kosovo was not on the agenda and that Serbia’s President Tomislav Nikolic and Prime Minister Ivica Dacic had made the state's position on the issue clear. “Our proposal (platform) offers a very serious set of concessions that refer to the legal status of institutions that function in the province, participation of the Serb community in those institutions, participation of Kosovo and Metohija in various regional and international organizations and to a solution for a series of practical issues, from transparency of financing to the property issues. However, the issue you are talking about is not on the agenda,” he explained. Tahiri said that whether Kosovo would get a seat in the UN did not depend on Serbia but on the UN Security Council. “The main fault of the Serbian platform is that it does not see Kosovo as a community of people and ethnicities, but only through a prism of the ethnic element in Kosovo. It requests a community only for Serb municipalities. We have a community of Bosniaks, Turks and other ethnicities in Kosovo,” he stressed. Tahiri said that Kosovo was recognized by almost 100 UN member states and added that Pristina was aware that Kosovo could not get a seat in the UN without the recommendation of the Security Council. “Russia and China are opposed to it. So, whether Kosovo gets a seat in the UN does not depend on Serbia but on the UN Security Council. Even if we had bilateral relations with Serbia, our seat in the UN would not be secured,” Tahiri concluded. Marko Djuric (Tanjug, file) Tanjug

Compromise on Kosovo issue is “possible”

Đurić told Radio Free Europe that it was very important for Belgrade and Priština to continue the dialogue on all issues.

“Our side is open and ambition of the current generation of politicians in Belgrade is to find a compromise solution. In order to achieve that, a direct cooperation is necessary and we have made a significant step forward in the last several months,” he said.

When asked if he believed that it was possible to find a compromise solution, Tahiri said:

“Of course, I completely agree with what Mr. Đurić said.”

When asked what Belgrade would offer in return if Priština accepted the autonomous community of Serb municipalities in northern Kosovo and if it could be a UN seat, Đurić said that the issue of the UN seat for Kosovo was not on the agenda and that Serbia’s President Tomislav Nikolić and Prime Minister Ivica Dačić had made the state's position on the issue clear.

“Our proposal (platform) offers a very serious set of concessions that refer to the legal status of institutions that function in the province, participation of the Serb community in those institutions, participation of Kosovo and Metohija in various regional and international organizations and to a solution for a series of practical issues, from transparency of financing to the property issues. However, the issue you are talking about is not on the agenda,” he explained.

Tahiri said that whether Kosovo would get a seat in the UN did not depend on Serbia but on the UN Security Council.

“The main fault of the Serbian platform is that it does not see Kosovo as a community of people and ethnicities, but only through a prism of the ethnic element in Kosovo. It requests a community only for Serb municipalities. We have a community of Bosniaks, Turks and other ethnicities in Kosovo,” he stressed.

Tahiri said that Kosovo was recognized by almost 100 UN member states and added that Priština was aware that Kosovo could not get a seat in the UN without the recommendation of the Security Council.

“Russia and China are opposed to it. So, whether Kosovo gets a seat in the UN does not depend on Serbia but on the UN Security Council. Even if we had bilateral relations with Serbia, our seat in the UN would not be secured,” Tahiri concluded.