Vučić: Best for Serbia under difficult conditions

Vučić: Best for Serbia under difficult conditions

There is nothing there to boast about and nothing that the other side could boast about, said Vučić. “Within the set framework, we have achieved the best result for the people of Serbia," he said, clarifying that the president of the Kosovska Mitrovica court will certainly be a Serb from the north of Kosovo, that the ratio of judges in northern Kosovska Mitrovica will be 60-40, and that the Serbs will account for two-thirds of the employees.

Vučić expects that after the formation of the Serbian government, on April 27 at the latest, the final agreement on judiciary will be reached in Brussels which, as he noted, is important for Serbia in terms of relaxation of all other issues in the relations with the EU.

It was also pointed out that Serbian citizenship of the Serbs in Kosovo cannot be revoked and that it cannot be the ground for leaving them out of the electoral register, said Vučić, adding that no Serb would then be able to take part in such elections.

"We also discussed the reserved seats (in the Kosovo parliament), but no agreement was reached on that matter," said Vučić, adding that he expects Ashton to visit Belgrade as soon as the new Serbian government is formed.

Referring to Serbia's stance on the Ukraine crisis, Vučić reiterated, as he noted, the same thing he said to Ashton, that the position of Serbia is as clear as possible - meaning that Serbia will never impose sanctions on Russia, "but that it will always respect the territorial integrity of all countries that are members of the United Nations. "

"I personally presented the position to Catherine Ashton. The position is clear, we respect every country's territorial integrity, but we will not introduce sanctions against Russia. We will never take part in that, because we would then go against those who never introduced sanctions against Serbia, not even while Serbia was bombed and while some others were taking away its territorial integrity," Vučić said.

According to him, "the EU understands Serbia's stance well."

"Serbia is an independent country that has its pride, its citizens who elect its organs and government, and it is not a government without an attitude, but a government that respects the integrity, but will not introduce sanctions against Russia," Vučić reiterated.

Prime Minister Ivica Dačić, who was also in Brussels today, said that the Serbian representatives told Ashton about their "principled stance" that Serbia will never make a single step that would deal damage to its ties with the Russian Federation.

Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci spoke to reporters after the negotiations today to say that "only some minor issue that experts will harmonize" remains to be agreed on, and that the agreement will be made official during the next round of the dialogue.

EU mediator satisfied

High EU Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said late on Monday, upon completion of the 23. round of the Belgrade-Priština dialogue, that she is pleased that the two sides nearly completed the talks on judiciary, emphasizing that the agreement will be finalized in the next meeting.

"We have continued work on the matters related to the implementation of the Brussels agreement. In this context, I wish to express my satisfaction at the fact that the two sides have nearly completed the talks on judiciary. Having in mind the necessary harmonization, the agreement will be finalized in the next meeting," states the release.

Aston noted that the two sides also discussed the next steps within the dialogue and agreed to meet again soon.