“EU talks date depends on distribution of authorities”

BELGRADE Analyst Ognjen Pribicevic says that a date for the start of the EU talks depends on distribution of authorities between Pristina and Kosovska Mitrovica. “The West wants that the institutions’ authorities are under Pristina’s control and Belgrade wants talk and to see what will be under Mitrovica and what under Pristina’s control,” the former ambassador to Germany explained. “EU talks date depends on distribution of authorities” “The West expects the main things, judiciary and security to be transferred to Pristina and it will be a stone of stumbling. It is hard to predict what will happen and a date for the EU negotiations depends on it,” Pribicevic explained. He added that there were many options. “Maybe it will be a date, maybe something that looks like a date but it is not, it can be a conditioned date and there maybe even not be a date. Deputy PM Aleksandar Vucic also says he does not know,” the former ambassador said. He warned that there was very little time left until the decision on a date for the beginning of the EU accession talks. “The problem is that we are constantly on a deadline and under impossible pressures from Brussels and Washington and the question is how much we can stand up to those pressures. Such issues take years to negotiate and we are supposed to solve them in a couple of months, just like it was the case with the integrated crossings management,” Pribicevic stressed. He said that President Tomislav Nikolic’s statement on the forming of the Serbian institutions in Kosovo was positive and in accordance with the Resolution on Kosovo that had been adopted by the Serbian parliament. “It is nothing historic or crucial, it is just something that parliament adopted as an obligation. The whole political and legal basis was finished three weeks ago, everything is clearly stated in the Resolution and PM Ivica Dacic has already explained what should be done. It is quite alright for Serbs to hold elections that are necessary in order to form institutions,” he said. The former ambassador added that the Resolution on Kosovo stated that “parts of authorities will be transferred to Pristina and that a part will remain in Kosovska Mitrovica” and that a constitutional law would then be passed, stipulating that “it all falls under Serbia”. However, he added that it remains to be seen what Dacic and Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci would agree in Brussels and that the most important thing was how the authorities would be distributed between Pristina and Kosovska Mitrovica. Ognjen Pribicevic (Tanjug, file) Beta

“EU talks date depends on distribution of authorities”

“The West expects the main things, judiciary and security to be transferred to Priština and it will be a stone of stumbling. It is hard to predict what will happen and a date for the EU negotiations depends on it,” Pribićević explained.

He added that there were many options.

“Maybe it will be a date, maybe something that looks like a date but it is not, it can be a conditioned date and there maybe even not be a date. Deputy PM Aleksandar Vučić also says he does not know,” the former ambassador said.

He warned that there was very little time left until the decision on a date for the beginning of the EU accession talks.

“The problem is that we are constantly on a deadline and under impossible pressures from Brussels and Washington and the question is how much we can stand up to those pressures. Such issues take years to negotiate and we are supposed to solve them in a couple of months, just like it was the case with the integrated crossings management,” Pribićević stressed.

He said that President Tomislav Nikolić’s statement on the forming of the Serbian institutions in Kosovo was positive and in accordance with the Resolution on Kosovo that had been adopted by the Serbian parliament.

“It is nothing historic or crucial, it is just something that parliament adopted as an obligation. The whole political and legal basis was finished three weeks ago, everything is clearly stated in the Resolution and PM Ivica Dačić has already explained what should be done. It is quite alright for Serbs to hold elections that are necessary in order to form institutions,” he said.

The former ambassador added that the Resolution on Kosovo stated that “parts of authorities will be transferred to Priština and that a part will remain in Kosovska Mitrovica” and that a constitutional law would then be passed, stipulating that “it all falls under Serbia”.

However, he added that it remains to be seen what Dačić and Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci would agree in Brussels and that the most important thing was how the authorities would be distributed between Priština and Kosovska Mitrovica.