Direct talks begin Monday

Direct talks begin Monday

On the Serbian side, Serbian President Boris Tadić, Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica and Foreign Affairs Minister Vuk Drašković will be participating. Chief of the Serbian Government’s Media Cooperation Office, Srđan Đurić, said that the chief negotiators decided that Tadić and Koštunica will participate in this first round together and will then take turns in the coming rounds.

Boris Tadić said that it is good that Belgrade is attending the first round with the entire team intact.

“We had some complaints on the way in which the first round was envisioned by the international negotiators. All of our complaints have been accepted though.” Tadić said.

He expects that meaningful progress will be made in this round of discussions.

“I must say that I am not content with the results that have been achieved in the field of protection for churches and in decentralisation. These are questions that are tied to the lives of the people on the territory and here we are asking for, and expecting concrete progress.” Tadić said.

The Priština delegation will be made up of Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu, Parliamentary Speaker Kolj Berisa and Prime Minister Agim Ceku. They will be accompanied by Democratic Party of Kosovo leader Hashim Thaci, Ora Party leader Veton Suroi and the ten delegates who have participated in the status talks thus far.

Blame the Albanian side

Belgrade delegation member Leon Koen said that the Priština team and its stance that Kosovo independence is a “done deal” is the main reason for the lack of progress in the discussions so far.

“In Priština they believe that they do not have to accept anything that they do like.” Koen told daily Večernje Novosti, adding that such a strategy will not be successful in the end.

He said that the last UN Security Council meeting showed that there is a great difference of opinion within the five permanent member countries of the Security Council, adding that Russia and China have shown unwavering support for sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Serbia.