Pribicevic: Progress in Belgrade-Pristina talks

Therefore, Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Kosovo Prime Minister Hasim Taci decided to address the media together with EU High Representative Catherine Ashton late on Wednesday. Pribicevic told Tanjug that this step can be interpreted as positive, but added that it is impossible to predict whether the talks will end successfully or not, which will have a direct impact on possible starting date for Serbia's EU accession talks. “A kind of agreement is being reached there and this is obviously much more than they want to tell the public. They of course, with the urging of the EU and the U.S., appeared before the cameras to show that certain progress has been made,” Pribicevic said. However, he believes that it is difficult to say at the moment when these results will be presented to the public. “Probably at some time, they will be, but at the moment both sides have decided that it is better to remain silent,” Pribicevic said. Pribicevic now that talks are focusing only on north Kosovo and two issues - justice system and security. “These are key issues. I believe that education and health system should not pose problems in the Belgrade-Pristina talks. It is obvious that this appeared as an obstacle one or two months ago, and this is normal,” Pribicevic said. The seventh round of the Brussels-based dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina ended late Tuesday without agreement, but Dacic, Kosovo Prime Minister Hasim Taci and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton all believe that certain progress was indeed made and that the continuation of the dialogue, scheduled for April 2, can be expected with optimism. Delevic backs any process leading to EU talks Milica Delevic, MP of the Democratic Party (DS), stated on Thursday that she supports any process which leads to the soonest possible start of Serbia's EU accession talks. Commenting on Wednesday's round of the dialogue between Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Kosovo Prime Minister Hasim Taci in Brussels, Delevic told reporters in the parliament that she does not have enough information to say what the meeting was like, adding that the ones who partook in the dialogue should be asked to assess the results and say which point the talks have reached. When asked whether it is certain that the agreement will be reached in the next round of the talks on April 2, Delevic, who is also the president of the parliament's EU Integration Committee, said that at the moment it is more important what can be done for the report, which the European Commission will submit mid April, to be positive without thinking how close or far we are from the date. As Delevic noted, the EC defined progress in the dialogue and sustainable normalization as key priorities back in 2011. “Of course, once that talks start, the focus will be on the reform processes. We hope for the soonest possible start of the talks,” Delevic said. The seventh round of the Brussels-based dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina ended late Tuesday without agreement, but Dacic, Kosovo Prime Minister Hasim Taci and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton all believe that certain progress was indeed made and that the continuation of the dialogue, scheduled for April 2, can be expected with optimism. Photo Tanjug video, I. Pavlovic DSS: Serbian position in dialogue at rock bottom Head of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) parliamentary group Slobodan Samardzic said on Thursday that the Serbian side in the dialogue with Pristina degraded its negotiating position to the rock bottom, and called on Prime Minister Ivica Dacic to inform the parliament next week about the talks that have been held with Pristina to date. Samardzic told reporters in the parliament that it is Dacic's obligation arising from the adopted Resolution on Kosovo, and that he needs to inform the parliament about the dialogue as soon as possible, until next Wednesday at the latest. He is of the opinion that the Serbian side lowered its negotiating position so that now it is talking only about the four municipalities in northern Kosovo. That is not the content of the platform, it lists an entire series of powers for an association of Serb municipalities, and that they had to be exercised in the legislative and executive regime. It is evident that no one speaks about legislative powers any more. Our government is settling for less than it was stipulated in the platform, and we do not know why it has lowered the aspirations so much, he said. Samardzic believes that it is good that no definitive agreement was reached on Wednesday, but that “it is no good that the government downgraded its negotiating position so much; even if it gets what it is asking for, that would not be enough from the viewpoint of the Constitution and legitimate demands of Serbs from Kosovo.” He hopes that Serbia will not accept “shameful conditions” and that there will be no agreement on April 2, estimating that getting a starting date for EU entry talks is “an elusive goal” which would not be realized even if Serbia accepted the minimum of the minimum.