Serbia insists on “status-neutral" Kosovo talks

BELGRADE Serbian government's Office for Kosovo Director Aleksandar Vulin has said that Belgrade insists that all talks with Pristina be status neutral. He added that Serbia also insisted on the respect for the Serbian Constitution and UN Security Council Resolution 1244. Serbia insists on “status-neutral" Kosovo talks Vulin noted that Belgrade would come out with concrete proposals and would wait for the other side to say what they had to say. Commenting on a resolution on the normalization of relations with Belgrade that Kosovo's parliament had adopted on Thursday he said that the resolution was yet another indication of Pristina's urge for making unilateral moves and also an attempt the interim authorities to strengthen their negotiating position. Vulin said that a proposal for a series of measures to determine which employees generated earnings and other income from the provisional institutions of self-government in Kosovo in addition to getting salaries from the budget of Serbia had not only come from the Office for Kosovo, as the decision had been passed unanimously at Thursday's session of the Serbian government and had been proposed and backed by all Serb municipalities in Kosovo. “Everybody who lives in the southern province and recognizes Serbia as their own country will have to choose between Belgrade and Pristina as it is not possible to not recognize Kosovo while receiving money from the interim Pristina institutions,” he said. “Everyone in Kosovo leads a difficult life ... both in the north and south, but all who recognize Serbia as their country will have to make a decision. You cannot fail to recognize Kosovo and receive money from Kosovo at the same time for long, as you will fall between two stools,” Vulin told Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) on Thursday. When it comes to the issue of status of Kosovo, the Office for Kosovo director pointed out that there was no uniform policy in place in Brussels in that respect, since five EU member states had not recognized its independence. Aleksandar Vulin (Tanjug, file) Tanjug

Serbia insists on “status-neutral" Kosovo talks

Vulin noted that Belgrade would come out with concrete proposals and would wait for the other side to say what they had to say.

Commenting on a resolution on the normalization of relations with Belgrade that Kosovo's parliament had adopted on Thursday he said that the resolution was yet another indication of Priština's urge for making unilateral moves and also an attempt the interim authorities to strengthen their negotiating position.

Vulin said that a proposal for a series of measures to determine which employees generated earnings and other income from the provisional institutions of self-government in Kosovo in addition to getting salaries from the budget of Serbia had not only come from the Office for Kosovo, as the decision had been passed unanimously at Thursday's session of the Serbian government and had been proposed and backed by all Serb municipalities in Kosovo.

“Everybody who lives in the southern province and recognizes Serbia as their own country will have to choose between Belgrade and Priština as it is not possible to not recognize Kosovo while receiving money from the interim Priština institutions,” he said.

“Everyone in Kosovo leads a difficult life ... both in the north and south, but all who recognize Serbia as their country will have to make a decision. You cannot fail to recognize Kosovo and receive money from Kosovo at the same time for long, as you will fall between two stools,” Vulin told Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) on Thursday.

When it comes to the issue of status of Kosovo, the Office for Kosovo director pointed out that there was no uniform policy in place in Brussels in that respect, since five EU member states had not recognized its independence.