Tadić: Long-term solution for Kosovo

Serbian President Boris Tadic said that Serbia is ready for dialogue with Pristina. He also announced the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Serbia in October. Tadic: Long-term solution for Kosovo The Serbian president said that a compromise solution which would be viable in the long run is being sought. The dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, according to the Serbian president, should open new perspectives for both Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo. Serbian President Boris Tadic said in New York that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was going to visit Serbia in October. A compromise solution, said Tadic, implies peace and economic development so that neither markets nor economies in the Western Balkans would suffer obstruction. "We have no intention to go back to the political situation of the nineties and we are under no illusions that Kosovo Albanians would accept the level or structure of governance that we had in the nineties. No one here would propose such unrealistic plan, but we certainly do not want a solution where one side - the Kosovo Albanians, would get everything, and the other, Serbia, would lose everything. And this dialogue should make the prospects happen", President Tadic said. The Serbian president used the opportunity of the United Nations General Assembly to have a number of meetings with European officials. The main topic of discussion was Serbia's candidacy for membership in the European Union. "I believe the conditions are met for a new step towards EU membership candidacy. We want to start negotiating our future status, as I have said before either in late 2011 or early 2012, so that we could know the process is completely irreversible. That is our main political objective", Tadic said. He said he was satisfied with his visit to New York and would soon re-visit the United States, while Hillary Clinton, the U.S. Secretary of State, would visit Serbia in October. "I believe that I and the president and vice president of the United States, along with Mrs. Clinton who is coming here in October and with whom I've spoken about this visit, will have the opportunity to raise the quality of the US-Serbian relations to the highest possible level," said Serbian president. Commenting on the meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in the General Assembly of the United Nations, Serbian president explained that it was a brief formal conversation, adding that it could not be described as a bilateral meeting. Boris Tadic in the UN (Tanjug)

Tadić: Long-term solution for Kosovo

The Serbian president said that a compromise solution which would be viable in the long run is being sought. The dialogue between Belgrade and Priština, according to the Serbian president, should open new perspectives for both Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo. Serbian President Boris Tadić said in New York that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was going to visit Serbia in October.

A compromise solution, said Tadić, implies peace and economic development so that neither markets nor economies in the Western Balkans would suffer obstruction.

"We have no intention to go back to the political situation of the nineties and we are under no illusions that Kosovo Albanians would accept the level or structure of governance that we had in the nineties. No one here would propose such unrealistic plan, but we certainly do not want a solution where one side - the Kosovo Albanians, would get everything, and the other, Serbia, would lose everything. And this dialogue should make the prospects happen", President Tadić said.

The Serbian president used the opportunity of the United Nations General Assembly to have a number of meetings with European officials. The main topic of discussion was Serbia's candidacy for membership in the European Union.

"I believe the conditions are met for a new step towards EU membership candidacy. We want to start negotiating our future status, as I have said before either in late 2011 or early 2012, so that we could know the process is completely irreversible. That is our main political objective", Tadić said.

He said he was satisfied with his visit to New York and would soon re-visit the United States, while Hillary Clinton, the U.S. Secretary of State, would visit Serbia in October.

"I believe that I and the president and vice president of the United States, along with Mrs. Clinton who is coming here in October and with whom I've spoken about this visit, will have the opportunity to raise the quality of the US-Serbian relations to the highest possible level," said Serbian president.

Commenting on the meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in the General Assembly of the United Nations, Serbian president explained that it was a brief formal conversation, adding that it could not be described as a bilateral meeting.