Deputy PM “convinced” Serbia will get EU talks date

BELGRADE Serbian Deputy PM Suzana Grubjesic is convinced that the European Commission will recommend in April that Serbia be given a date for the start of the EU talks. However, she stressed that “we are on some sort of deadline right now”. Deputy PM “convinced” Serbia will get EU talks date “We have never been closer to getting a date (for the beginning of the EU accession negotiations),” Grubjesic said but added that Brussels wanted to see results of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. “If (Serbian and Kosovo Prime Ministers) Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaci reach an agreement in March, there will be not enough time to implement agreements. We are on some sort of deadline right now and we need to walk a very thin line,” she said. The deputy prime minister told Belgrade-based Pink TV that Serbia could not “go below the minimum determined by the Platform and the Resolution” but that one should be flexible because there was a very little time left to implement the agreements that had been reached. “We have to get them to believe us that the dialogue will be permanent and sustainable,” she added. Commenting on a visit of the Serbian delegation to Germany, Grubjesic said that German officials had assessed that progress had been made at the meeting between Dacic and Thaci. She stressed, however, that autonomy that Belgrade requested for Kosovo Serbs still needed to be defined. “We cannot agree with Thaci there and we cannot back down in something that is our obligation and some minimum below which we must not go,” the deputy PM explained. According to her, negotiations are underway to find a way for Pristina and the international community to recognize the Serbian institutions in Kosovo and stop referring to them as “parallel”. “The key issue for the community of Serb municipalities is the issue of jurisdiction and which municipalities will be included in it,” she said and added that Pristina needed to make concessions as well because “it takes two to tango”. Grubjesic also stressed that Kosovo Serbs needed to realized that their position would be much worse without the dialogue. “This will continue to be their institutions, they will not be institutions of the so-called state of Kosovo,” she explained. Commenting on the next round of the dialogue, the deputy PM said she expected that jurisdiction of the autonomy would be defined and that the implementation of the agreements on the integrated crossings management, energy and telecommunications would be discussed. She also added that Germany was crucial for the EU talks date because it “gives the green light to every country, including Serbia”. “Germany actually expects from us things we want, to find a solution for the parallelism of institutions but when you say ‘abolish the Serbian institutions’, it is out of the question because they are the only institutions in northern Kosovo,” Grubjesic said. When asked if early elections would be called if Serbia failed to get a date for the start of the EU accession negotiations, she said that she would not say that those two issues were connected but that “they should take place if there is need for elections”. Suzana Grubjesic (B92, file) Tanjug

Deputy PM “convinced” Serbia will get EU talks date

“We have never been closer to getting a date (for the beginning of the EU accession negotiations),” Grubješić said but added that Brussels wanted to see results of the Belgrade-Priština dialogue.

“If (Serbian and Kosovo Prime Ministers) Ivica Dačić and Hashim Thaci reach an agreement in March, there will be not enough time to implement agreements. We are on some sort of deadline right now and we need to walk a very thin line,” she said.

The deputy prime minister told Belgrade-based Pink TV that Serbia could not “go below the minimum determined by the Platform and the Resolution” but that one should be flexible because there was a very little time left to implement the agreements that had been reached.

“We have to get them to believe us that the dialogue will be permanent and sustainable,” she added.

Commenting on a visit of the Serbian delegation to Germany, Grubješić said that German officials had assessed that progress had been made at the meeting between Dačić and Thaci.

She stressed, however, that autonomy that Belgrade requested for Kosovo Serbs still needed to be defined.

“We cannot agree with Thaci there and we cannot back down in something that is our obligation and some minimum below which we must not go,” the deputy PM explained.

According to her, negotiations are underway to find a way for Priština and the international community to recognize the Serbian institutions in Kosovo and stop referring to them as “parallel”.

“The key issue for the community of Serb municipalities is the issue of jurisdiction and which municipalities will be included in it,” she said and added that Priština needed to make concessions as well because “it takes two to tango”.

Grubješić also stressed that Kosovo Serbs needed to realized that their position would be much worse without the dialogue.

“This will continue to be their institutions, they will not be institutions of the so-called state of Kosovo,” she explained.

Commenting on the next round of the dialogue, the deputy PM said she expected that jurisdiction of the autonomy would be defined and that the implementation of the agreements on the integrated crossings management, energy and telecommunications would be discussed.

She also added that Germany was crucial for the EU talks date because it “gives the green light to every country, including Serbia”.

“Germany actually expects from us things we want, to find a solution for the parallelism of institutions but when you say ‘abolish the Serbian institutions’, it is out of the question because they are the only institutions in northern Kosovo,” Grubješić said.

When asked if early elections would be called if Serbia failed to get a date for the start of the EU accession negotiations, she said that she would not say that those two issues were connected but that “they should take place if there is need for elections”.