Prime minster: I will speak to Haradinaj if necessary

BELGRADE Serbian PM Ivica Dacic has stated that he would talk about the solving of the Kosovo issue with Ramush Haradinaj if he became a Kosovo prime minister. “If he was a prime minister, I would have no other option. If he becomes a prime minister, I will not be able to say no because somebody I have a problem with is on the other side,” he said. Prime minster: I will speak to Haradinaj if necessary “You do not negotiate with those you want but with those you have problems with,” Dacic told Al Jazeera TV. He explained that it was a hard decision to negotiate with Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci bearing in mind that nobody was willing to do so. The prime minister said that he had taken a great risk that could be politically detrimental for him. When asked about meetings with Thaci, he said that the meetings were “completely normal”. “Maybe someone expected we would get into a fistfight, that I will kick or kill him… We need to realized that we live in the 21st century. It is not my goal to meet with someone just to see them. If I had not done it and if we had not had such results in combat against corruption, we never would have gotten a positive opinion. The dialogue with Pristina is key for the EU,” the prime minister said. He stressed that Serbia needed to fight to get a date for the beginning of the EU accession talks. “I am not fascinated by the EU, I do not think it is an ideal creation but I do not see a better option for Serbia. Let’s join the EU and if it is not good, we will leave,” Dacic explained. Commenting on a draft resolution on Kosovo, he said that the goal was to reach an agreement among parties and offer a solution for the most pressing problem – “parallelism and paralysis of the institutions”, and to continue the dialogue in Brussels “because it is important for Serbia’s EU pathway”. “The goal is not for Serbia to have its own institutions, but to have institutions that will be acceptable both to Serbs in Kosovo and Pristina,” Dacic said and added that the draft resolution was the biggest concession of Belgrade thus far. He stressed that Serbia’s proposal of the autonomy for the Serbian people in Kosovo was very constructive and fair if the other side did not want to discuss a comprehensive solution- Commenting on a decision of the Kosovo institutions not to allow President Tomislav Nikolic to visit Kosovo on Christmas, the prime minister said that it was not a good message and that it was necessary to improve relations, not make them even worse. Dacic said that there was no reason his government would not last its full mandate since there “are no problems”, adding that nobody in the government had discussed the issue of early elections. He pointed out that most of investigations of 24 suspicious privatizations would be finished by the end of the year. When asked about Serbia’s relations with Croatia, the prime minister said that the two countries needed to be practical, cooperate and have communication that would allow them to have normal relations, adding that he was ready to meet with his Croatian counterpart Zoran Milanovic. Dacic added that relations with the Republic of Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik were “good”. Ivica Dacic (Tanjug, file) Tanjug

Prime minster: I will speak to Haradinaj if necessary

“You do not negotiate with those you want but with those you have problems with,” Dačić told Al Jazeera TV.

He explained that it was a hard decision to negotiate with Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci bearing in mind that nobody was willing to do so. The prime minister said that he had taken a great risk that could be politically detrimental for him.

When asked about meetings with Thaci, he said that the meetings were “completely normal”.

“Maybe someone expected we would get into a fistfight, that I will kick or kill him… We need to realized that we live in the 21st century. It is not my goal to meet with someone just to see them. If I had not done it and if we had not had such results in combat against corruption, we never would have gotten a positive opinion. The dialogue with Priština is key for the EU,” the prime minister said.

He stressed that Serbia needed to fight to get a date for the beginning of the EU accession talks.

“I am not fascinated by the EU, I do not think it is an ideal creation but I do not see a better option for Serbia. Let’s join the EU and if it is not good, we will leave,” Dačić explained.

Commenting on a draft resolution on Kosovo, he said that the goal was to reach an agreement among parties and offer a solution for the most pressing problem – “parallelism and paralysis of the institutions”, and to continue the dialogue in Brussels “because it is important for Serbia’s EU pathway”.

“The goal is not for Serbia to have its own institutions, but to have institutions that will be acceptable both to Serbs in Kosovo and Priština,” Dačić said and added that the draft resolution was the biggest concession of Belgrade thus far.

He stressed that Serbia’s proposal of the autonomy for the Serbian people in Kosovo was very constructive and fair if the other side did not want to discuss a comprehensive solution-

Commenting on a decision of the Kosovo institutions not to allow President Tomislav Nikolić to visit Kosovo on Christmas, the prime minister said that it was not a good message and that it was necessary to improve relations, not make them even worse.

Dačić said that there was no reason his government would not last its full mandate since there “are no problems”, adding that nobody in the government had discussed the issue of early elections.

He pointed out that most of investigations of 24 suspicious privatizations would be finished by the end of the year.

When asked about Serbia’s relations with Croatia, the prime minister said that the two countries needed to be practical, cooperate and have communication that would allow them to have normal relations, adding that he was ready to meet with his Croatian counterpart Zoran Milanović.

Dačić added that relations with the Republic of Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik were “good”.