Nikolic: Agreement never closer

Nikolic, Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic talked with Ashton in Belgrade for two hours. Ashton left the Palace of Serbia immediately after the meeting, and Nikolic told a news conference he is optimistic about the dialogue with Pristina, which will resume in Brussels on March 20. Nikolic said there is still no agreement about the formation of an association of Serb municipalities in Kosovo, but expressed belief a solution can be reached and the Serbian parliament's Resolution on Kosovo will be honored in the process. "I think we have never been closer to an agreement which will give the people in Kosovo a chance to live better, to be protected, to develop and live in peace and the Serbs a chance to live in a community in which they would regulate their life and stay connected to Serbia, so that it can assist them," said the president. Dacic said there is no agreement right now and it will not happen until Serbia's proposals for an association of Serb municipalities are seriously considered. He added that nobody can say right now whether an agreement will be reached or not. "We want a compromise, but we will not accept humiliation. This is our message ahead of March 20," Dacic said. Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic stated on Thursday that right now there is no agreement in the dialogue with Pristina, and it will not happen until the proposal on the formation of an association of Serb municipalities in Kosovo is seriously considered. After a meeting between Serbia's top officials and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, Dacic said that at the moment no one can say whether an agreement will be reached or not. “We want a compromise, but we will not accept humiliation. This is our message ahead of March 20 - when the dialogue in Brussels is scheduled to continue,” Dacic said. The prime minister said that there are three key questions which should be answered, and the crucial one is what the association of Serb municipalities is and what jurisdictions it should have. Therefore, it is not easy to find answers about the competences of the association of Serb municipalities in the areas which it will be entrusted with, the Serbian prime minister said. Dacic underlined that anyway Serbia cannot accept that the association of Serb municipalities should have an informal form, which may even be close to an NGO. The other two questions are the justice system and the police, since it is not at all the same who is protecting you, who is defending you, and who is judging you, Dacic said. These two issues are not a subject to discussion, bidding or media speculations, he said. Dacic denied that there were any talks about an agreement on the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina. The Serbian prime minister underlined that it is crucial that in all talks, and this time as well, unity has been demonstrated by the state delegation in which, as he put it, there are no weak links. Ashton: Constructive consultions in Belgrade EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said Thursday that she had a useful and constructive meeting with Serbia's top officials in Belgrade in preparation for the next round of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. "I visited Belgrade today for further consultations with Serbian leaders in the framework of the EU-facilitated dialogue for the normalization of relations between the two sides (Belgrade and Pristina)," Ashton said. "I had a very useful and constructive meeting with President Nikolic, Prime Minister Dacic and Deputy Prime Minister Vucic," Ashton said after her visit. "These consultations are to prepare the next dialogue meeting I will hold with PM Dacic and (Kosovo's) PM Thaci on 20 March in Brussels," reads the statement.