Dačić and Thaci to continue talks on Wednesday

BELGRADE The working dinner between Catherine Ashton, Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaci ended in Brussels late on Tuesday, and the talks will continue on Wednesday. Participants of the meeting did not address reporters. Dacic made a short statement for Reuters saying today's talks were "constructive," and that they would continue tomorrow. Dacic and Thaci to continue talks on Wednesday Prior to the trilateral meeting, EU foreign policy chief Ashton had bilateral meetings with Dacic and Taci, heads the governments in Belgrade and Pristina. The main topic of the talks covered the implementation of the agreement reached on April 19 as the teams in charge of the implementation failed to reach an agreement at the two meetings held so far. The key condition for awarding Serbia the date of EU accession talks is the implementation of the Brussels agreement, but the agreement on the implementation also needs to be adopted by the end of the week, Tanjug learnt from sources close to the Serbian delegation. Dacic stated on Monday that Belgrade is expected to prepare the plan of implementation of the Brussels agreement by the end of the week which will list deadlines and activities which need to be completed within a certain period of time. Sources in the European Commission stated earlier on Tuesday that Taci and Dacic may meet once more in Brussels before the EU Council decides whether to grant Serbia the date of the accession talks on June 28. The main stumbling block in the talks is embodied in the question as to what would happen to Serbia's institutions in northern Kosovo until the local elections which should be organised by the end of the year, according to the agreement. Pristina claims that the institutions need to be shut down as soon as possible, while Belgrade insists that an institutional vacuum needs to be prevented. At the meeting with Ashton, the Serbian delegation included Prime Minister Dacic and Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic, advisor to the Serbian president Marko Djuric, Secretary General of the Serbian government Veljko Odalovic and PM's advisor Zorana Vlatkovic. On Monday, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was in Belgrade and Pristina where he spoke with officials to assure them that it was of crucial importance that the concrete implementation of the deal is agreed on as soon as possible. After his meeting with Westerwelle in Pristina on Monday, Thaci said he was "optimistic" that agreement on implementation would be reached on Tuesday. The German official said on the same occasion that he "categorically demanded that Serbia should dismantle its parallel structures in northern Kosovo." Kosovska Mitrovica District head Radenko Nedeljkovic and other officials from northern Kosovo met on Monday in Belgrade with Deputy PM Aleksandar Vucic. Nedeljkovic said that Serbs from Kosovo cannot block the implementation of the agreement, and that they would discuss the subject once Dacic had returned from Brussels. After the meeting that lasted over three hours, Nedeljkovic said that it focused on the deblocking of the work of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija and return of Aleksandar Vulin, who resigned after the agreement was initialed. The district chief also said that participants in the meeting discussed the Brussels agreement "the least." (EU) B92 Tanjug

Dačić and Thaci to continue talks on Wednesday

Prior to the trilateral meeting, EU foreign policy chief Ashton had bilateral meetings with Dačić and Taci, heads the governments in Belgrade and Priština.

The main topic of the talks covered the implementation of the agreement reached on April 19 as the teams in charge of the implementation failed to reach an agreement at the two meetings held so far.

The key condition for awarding Serbia the date of EU accession talks is the implementation of the Brussels agreement, but the agreement on the implementation also needs to be adopted by the end of the week, Tanjug learnt from sources close to the Serbian delegation.

Dačić stated on Monday that Belgrade is expected to prepare the plan of implementation of the Brussels agreement by the end of the week which will list deadlines and activities which need to be completed within a certain period of time.

Sources in the European Commission stated earlier on Tuesday that Taci and Dačić may meet once more in Brussels before the EU Council decides whether to grant Serbia the date of the accession talks on June 28.

The main stumbling block in the talks is embodied in the question as to what would happen to Serbia's institutions in northern Kosovo until the local elections which should be organised by the end of the year, according to the agreement.

Priština claims that the institutions need to be shut down as soon as possible, while Belgrade insists that an institutional vacuum needs to be prevented.

At the meeting with Ashton, the Serbian delegation included Prime Minister Dačić and Justice Minister Nikola Selaković, advisor to the Serbian president Marko Đurić, Secretary General of the Serbian government Veljko Odalović and PM's advisor Zorana Vlatković.

On Monday, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was in Belgrade and Priština where he spoke with officials to assure them that it was of crucial importance that the concrete implementation of the deal is agreed on as soon as possible.

After his meeting with Westerwelle in Priština on Monday, Thaci said he was "optimistic" that agreement on implementation would be reached on Tuesday.

The German official said on the same occasion that he "categorically demanded that Serbia should dismantle its parallel structures in northern Kosovo."

Kosovska Mitrovica District head Radenko Nedeljković and other officials from northern Kosovo met on Monday in Belgrade with Deputy PM Aleksandar Vučić. Nedeljković said that Serbs from Kosovo cannot block the implementation of the agreement, and that they would discuss the subject once Dačić had returned from Brussels.

After the meeting that lasted over three hours, Nedeljković said that it focused on the deblocking of the work of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija and return of Aleksandar Vulin, who resigned after the agreement was initialed. The district chief also said that participants in the meeting discussed the Brussels agreement "the least."