Serbia should focus on priorities, EP rapporteur says

Serbia should return to the negotiating table as soon as possible and focus on its priorities, European Parliament (EP) Rapporteur Jelko Kacin has stated. He added that Serbia’s priorities are not entirely clear now when the EU candidate status is within reach. Serbia should focus on priorities, EP rapporteur says “There is no better mechanism for settling problems than dialogue, he said. Those who left the negotiations will have to return as soon as possible,” he told Deutsche Welle, adding that the European Commission was set to give its recommendation on October 12, which would prove pointless if Serbia continued with its current actions and showed it was not interested in the candidate status. “Serbia has to understand that a solution to the Kosovo situation is in its interest and it must focus on its priorities, which are not all that clear at the moment, he remarked. The candidate status is within reach, but the priorities seem to lie elsewhere,” Kacin pointed out. He trusts the international organizations in Kosovo completely and describes all decisions and actions by KFOR and EULEX as very transparent and supervised, adding that an illusion is being created of Serbia being at war with international institutions outside its territory, which is unimaginable. Analysts of the European Policy Center in Brussels also think that Belgrade should return to the negotiations with Pristina, although they believe the European Commission report on Serbia's progress in EU integration will be positive overall. “It would be in Serbia's interest to do everything to show willingness to continue the dialogue before October 12,” analyst Rosa Balfour stated, adding that it would not affect the European Commission's opinion, since it was the result of a year-long work, but the atmosphere surrounding the presentation of the report. “The dialogue itself focuses on technical issues, while the implementation of the resulting agreements concerns the heart of the problem, which is to define where Kosovo belongs, especially its northern part,” Balfour pointed out. Jelko Kacin (Tanjug, file)

Serbia should focus on priorities, EP rapporteur says

“There is no better mechanism for settling problems than dialogue, he said. Those who left the negotiations will have to return as soon as possible,” he told Deutsche Welle, adding that the European Commission was set to give its recommendation on October 12, which would prove pointless if Serbia continued with its current actions and showed it was not interested in the candidate status.

“Serbia has to understand that a solution to the Kosovo situation is in its interest and it must focus on its priorities, which are not all that clear at the moment, he remarked. The candidate status is within reach, but the priorities seem to lie elsewhere,” Kacin pointed out.

He trusts the international organizations in Kosovo completely and describes all decisions and actions by KFOR and EULEX as very transparent and supervised, adding that an illusion is being created of Serbia being at war with international institutions outside its territory, which is unimaginable.

Analysts of the European Policy Center in Brussels also think that Belgrade should return to the negotiations with Priština, although they believe the European Commission report on Serbia's progress in EU integration will be positive overall.

“It would be in Serbia's interest to do everything to show willingness to continue the dialogue before October 12,” analyst Rosa Balfour stated, adding that it would not affect the European Commission's opinion, since it was the result of a year-long work, but the atmosphere surrounding the presentation of the report.

“The dialogue itself focuses on technical issues, while the implementation of the resulting agreements concerns the heart of the problem, which is to define where Kosovo belongs, especially its northern part,” Balfour pointed out.