Vucic: SNS proposes that gov't should not sign

The SNS presidency said that the government should not sign the document, as it had not even been sent to it for consideration and parts of it are not taking into account even a minimum of Serbia's national interests, SNS leader Aleksandar Vucic said at a press conference after the meeting of the party's presidency in Belgrade.

He explained that Serbia did not see any draft proposal in Brussels and therefore does not know what exactly it is that it should accept.

There are the eight points already known to the public, and Belgrade has expressed its disagreement with two of them, Vucic said, adding that Brussels went on to put forward certain suggestions verbally, which he believes represented Albanian views on the matter.

Bearing all this in mind, the SNS proposed that the government should not sign the document that Brussels is offering, but should rather seek an urgent resumption of the negotiations with Pristina, in order for a solution to be reached as soon as possible.
"Procrastinating things, playing with tactics and wasting time is good for nobody; it will benefit neither Belgrade nor Pristina, nor the Serbs in Kosovo," Vucic said, adding that he hopes the dialogue will resume soon.

He said Serbia cannot accept Pristina's proposal to have Albanian municipalities annexed to the Serb-majority municipalities as that would make the Serb population a minority.

Belgrade has not received any answer to a question about the presence of security forces in the Serb-majority municipalities, and it has also got no clear answer concerning the issues of education, health and justice, said Vucic, adding that Belgrade is also demanding that the Kosovska Mitrovica municipality should have its own appellate court.

He expressed the belief that the government will back the SNS proposal and that the talks with Pristina will continue, stressing that Belgrade hopes that it will get a more decent offer.

Vucic said that the process of searching for a solution to the Kosovo problem has nothing to do with getting a date for the start of EU accession negotiations, but rather with the modernization of Serbia and the country's progress.

He said that he is personally very disappointed with the EU offer and cannot even find the words to express how he is feeling about it, but stressed that it should in no way mean closing the door to European integration.

As the party getting the greatest amount of support from the citizens, the SNS is ready to take the risk and bear the responsibility for vital decisions, but it will not take part in anything that could lead the country into isolation, said Vucic, who is also Serbia's deputy prime minister and minister of defense.


Emergency govt session at 5 pm

The Serbian government will meet for an emergency session at 5 pm on Monday to prepare a response to EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, said First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.

He said Belgrade still has not informed Brussels of its position on the proposed agreement and that once its does, it expects to receive a written or oral response.

"The dialogue and talks can never end and this is the best way to reach a solution," Vucic told a news conference at the Serbian government headquarters after meeting with Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister Dusan Markovic.