"Kosovo can join OSCE if there is political deal"

"Kosovo can join OSCE if there is political deal"

U.S. ambassador for the OSCE Daniel Baer earlier in the day, during the Permanent Council meeting, asked for Kosovo "to be included in regional security initiatives."

"When it comes to the OSCE, decisions are made by consensus. You know how hard it is to reach consensus," Dacic told journalists, revealing that Serbia, as the country at the helm of the OSCE, "has been struggling for two days to harmonize the text of a condemnation of the terrorist attacks in France."

"I said, if we cannot agree on this, we're better off disbanding (the organization)," Dacic said, remarking at the same time that it has 57 member-states. That is the reason, he added, why Kosovo has no chance of being admitted to the OSCE, "unless there is some political agreement - and Vienna is not the place for that."

"The talks and dialogue with Pristina is taking place in Brussels. It is out of the question for Serbia to support or allow Kosovo to become an equal member of the OSCE, because its status has not been resolved," Dacic concluded.

Speaking about Serbia's chairmanship, he said it was "unrealistic to expect it will be the country that will solve major world problems and crisis," but underlined that Serbia wants and can help in the dialogue between parties.

He said at a press conference that the art of diplomacy is to find the best ways and mechanisms to realize the OSCE principles.

"We want and can help the dialogue between parties bearing in mind that we have good relations with many countries and this can facilitate communication and create conditions for reaching an agreement more easily. This is our advantage," Dacic said.

In this respect, Serbia is doing all in its power to maintain very good relations with everyone, he said.

Asked by foreign reporters whether "good relations with Russia can be a handicap," Dacic said that he does not see any reason why anyone would be bothered by the fact, "if Ukrainians find no fault with it."

Dacic said that he met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin in Kiev, who said that the good relations between Serbia and Russia can be an advantage, if they are employed to find better and easier manners to reaching a compromise and solution.

"We do not represent here any other country but Serbia. We are a small country and our strong suit are friendly relations. Serbia is in such a position that it can hold friendly talks with its friends in Washington, Brussels, Vienna, Berlin, Yerevan, Baku, Minsk, Kiev and Moscow," he underscored.

Dacic announced that a meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine will be held soon, adding that the chairperson's special representative is working on that.

According to him, there were ideas to hold a summit in Kazakhstan this week, but no significant improvements happened at the last meeting of the four ministers in Berlin that would lead to organizing the meeting.

Instead of an escalation, we expect a reverse process, he stressed, adding that everyone's goal is to move ahead with the peace process.

"Serbia, as the chair of the OSCE, does not want to miss this opportunity and intends to present itself as a serious country that will meet its international obligations responsibly,"he said.

There will be a lot of work to do this year, and Serbia needs to show it is serious and take advantage of the opportunity presented, Dacic pointed out.

This is the most responsible and complicated chairmanship because of the timing, he underscored, adding that Serbia had already chaired international organizations.

He thanked the Permanent Council for supporting Serbia's priorities for the chairmanship and said that the discussion involved more than 20 countries, which expressed support for Serbia's chairmanship and its goals.

He also announced that he will meet with Wolfgang Ischinger on Friday, who heads the Panel of Eminent Persons, and hear about any potential proposals on how to improve the European security system.

Dacic noted that he will also meet with ambassadors from the Western Balkans in order to strengthen peace and stability in the region.