Tadic: "Stefanovic's visit to Pristina - contribution to dialogue"

Serbian President Boris Tadic said that the visit of Head of the Serbian team in the dialogue on Kosovo Borko Stefanovic to Pristina will contribute to the dialogue.

(KosovoCompromise Staff) Thursday, May 12, 2011

He stated that in Pristina, Stefanovic will clarify Belgrade's intentions and try to establish common goals in the dialogue with the other party.

The president did not want to tie the dialogue with Pristina with the process of acquiring a candidate status for the EU membership, because, as he said, Serbia has a red line when it comes to preserving the territorial integrity which the state will not cross in any phase of the EU integration. Serbia wants to resolve the conflict in the region, but we cannot be conditioned by any requirements related to our territorial integrity, said Tadic.

He said that the arrest of Mladic and Hadzic would give Belgrade additional moral strength and international credibility when it comes to the investigation into allegations of trafficking in human organs in Kosovo. It is of fundamental importance that the investigation be independent. Serbia has no objections to the participation of EULEX in the investigation, but the mission cannot have a mandate in the territories of all countries that should be included in the investigation, said Tadic.

Head of Serbia's negotiating team in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Borislav Stefanovic will visit Kosovo, where he will meet with head of Pristina's team Edita Tahiri, Kosovo Albanian leaders and representatives of the Serb community in Kosovo south and north of the Ibar River, as well as appear on Kosovo television.

Ahead of the visit, Stefanovic said that, considering the number of problems between Belgrade and Pristina, it would be good for the negotiators to see each other more often and not just at the official meetings in Brussels.

"In that sense, I invited Ms. Tahiri to Belgrade, but since things are moving slowly, I decided to go to Pristina," Stefanovic said.

Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic assessed that Stefanovic's visit to Pristina is a gesture which shows Serbia's pragmatism and readiness for compromise, but reiterated that it will not renounce Kosovo.