Technical talks round ends with no deal reached

BRUSSELS A three-day round of the technical talks between Belgrade and Pristina on the implementation of the April 19 Brussels agreement ended without a deal. The Belgrade negotiating team blames the Pristina side for the poor progress. Technical talks round ends with no deal reached “The members of our (Belgrade's) working group team showed maximum constructive approach and willingness to find a solution, which was also confirmed by representatives of the European Union,” Serbia's Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic, one of the heads in the Belgrade team, said while he was leaving the European External Action Service building, the venue for the talks, on Friday. Selakovic said that the opposing party did not show good faith towards reaching a deal on the implementation of the agreement, adding that certain Pristina's teams arrived in Brussels under-prepared for the challenges of the topics discussed. Occasionally, their presence there seemed to be purely elemental, no more, said Selakovic, noting that such an approach leads Belgrade into doubting the willingness of Pristina to really implement the agreement on the normalization of relations. The round of dialogue begun on Wednesday morning, with discussions on necessary amendments to legislation, which expanded on Thursday and Friday to include the issues of the police, judiciary, establishment of an association of Serb municipalities and preparations for elections in Kosovo in October. Both sides sent five teams to discuss each of the issues. Selakovic said the technical talks should resume next week, and also called on the international community to exert more pressure on Pristina in the meantime, to help the talks move forward. “The Kosovo Albanians should be clearly said that they should not think too much about the forthcoming Kosovo elections, but rather work on a permanent integration of the Serbian people in Kosovo-Metohija, in line with the agreement on the normalization and the plan for its implementation,” stressed Selakovic. Asked whether there has been any progress made over the past three days, the minister said that “there was much progress on our part” as the Belgrade team made a lot of positive proposals. Selakovic said that he has no information about the Pristina team, headed by Kosovo Deputy Prime Ministers Hajredin Kuci and Edita Tahiri, planning to visit Belgrade soon, something which Pristina press reported Friday morning. The Kosovo team made no statements to reporters after leaving the European External Action Service building. The Serbian delegation for this round also comprised Presidential Adviser Marko Djuric, Aleksandar Vulin, coordinator of the agreement implementation board, Serbian government Secretary General Veljko Odalovic, and a number of experts. Tanjug has been told unofficially that the beginning of next round of the technical talks is scheduled for Tuesday, June 11, in Brussels. Tanjug

Technical talks round ends with no deal reached

“The members of our (Belgrade's) working group team showed maximum constructive approach and willingness to find a solution, which was also confirmed by representatives of the European Union,” Serbia's Justice Minister Nikola Selaković, one of the heads in the Belgrade team, said while he was leaving the European External Action Service building, the venue for the talks, on Friday.

Selaković said that the opposing party did not show good faith towards reaching a deal on the implementation of the agreement, adding that certain Priština's teams arrived in Brussels under-prepared for the challenges of the topics discussed.

Occasionally, their presence there seemed to be purely elemental, no more, said Selaković, noting that such an approach leads Belgrade into doubting the willingness of Priština to really implement the agreement on the normalization of relations.

The round of dialogue begun on Wednesday morning, with discussions on necessary amendments to legislation, which expanded on Thursday and Friday to include the issues of the police, judiciary, establishment of an association of Serb municipalities and preparations for elections in Kosovo in October. Both sides sent five teams to discuss each of the issues.

Selaković said the technical talks should resume next week, and also called on the international community to exert more pressure on Priština in the meantime, to help the talks move forward.

“The Kosovo Albanians should be clearly said that they should not think too much about the forthcoming Kosovo elections, but rather work on a permanent integration of the Serbian people in Kosovo-Metohija, in line with the agreement on the normalization and the plan for its implementation,” stressed Selaković.

Asked whether there has been any progress made over the past three days, the minister said that “there was much progress on our part” as the Belgrade team made a lot of positive proposals.

Selaković said that he has no information about the Priština team, headed by Kosovo Deputy Prime Ministers Hajredin Kuci and Edita Tahiri, planning to visit Belgrade soon, something which Priština press reported Friday morning.

The Kosovo team made no statements to reporters after leaving the European External Action Service building.

The Serbian delegation for this round also comprised Presidential Adviser Marko Đurić, Aleksandar Vulin, coordinator of the agreement implementation board, Serbian government Secretary General Veljko Odalović, and a number of experts.

Tanjug has been told unofficially that the beginning of next round of the technical talks is scheduled for Tuesday, June 11, in Brussels.