New trilateral meeting

The new trilateral meeting began after intensive consultations between Ashton and members of the two delegations.

Ashton's spokesperson Maja Kocijancic said the dialogue continues, answering question s whether a new joint meeting would follow the break and second round of bilateral meetings with both sides.

The joint meeting started at around 2 p.m. CET.

Before that, Ashton had separate meetings with both delegations, which are discussing the formation of a community of Serb municipalities in Kosovo-Metohija and its competencies.

According to many, the eighth round of the political dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is crucial, as the European Commission will publish its report on Serbia's progress in EU integration in mid-April.

Based on that report, it would be determined whether Serbia would be granted a starting date for EU entry talks.

The Belgrade-Pristina dialogue is in the crucial phase, and we are working on reaching an agreement as soon as possible, Maja Kocijancic, spokesperson of EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, said on Tuesday, but she could not confirm whether Ashton has submitted a certain document with proposed solutions.

The eighth round of the talks on problems of Serbs in Kosovo kicked off in Brussels on Tuesday on condition that all parties are ready for a compromise.

I cannot say that any paper exists, I can only say that we are working with all our might to reach solutions for the issues that are on the table, she said.
It is clear that we are in the crucial phase of the dialogue, and now we have to see what the result would be like, Kocijancic said.

She said that representatives of Belgrade and Pristina are discussing concrete issues, reiterating that the EU is working on reaching the agreement as soon as possible.

Kocijancic said that the eighth round of the Belgrade-Pristina talks in Brussels started with Ashton's separate meetings with the Belgrade negotiating team and the Pristina representatives, which are to be followed by a joint trilateral meeting.
Refusing to speculate about the outcome of Tuesday's talks, she noted that Ashton said on Monday that the agreement is close at hand, but that it will not be easy to reach it.

Ashton believes that the delegations in Brussels on Tuesday are working in the best interest of the peoples that they are representing, stressing that this chance must not be missed, Kocijancic noted.

Aleksandar Vulin, the head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo, said there were raised voices from Pristina's delegation headed by Hasim Taci during Tuesday's talks in Brussels.
"There were no incidents, but voices were raised. First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic knows how to get what he believes in, so I believe he raised his voice as well," said Vulin.

"Raising your voice at members of our delegation is not a good method, it is not smart," said Vulin.

He explained the meeting was cut short after voices were raised, and after a break the Serbian delegation resumed its bilateral meeting with EU High Representative Catherine Ashton.
"Our delegation is talking to Catherine Ashton again to see to what extent we can continue the dialogue and how far Pristina is from a compromise, because the Serbian side has clearly shown it is prepared to compromise," said Vulin.

Serbia does not think any day is D-day, and the talks and search for a solution will continue as far as Belgrade is concerned, Vulin concluded.