First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia Ivica Dacic presented Belgrade’s red lines to Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS)writes the Macedonian newspaper “Sloboden Pechat”.
“What are our red lines: First, there can be no new negotiations as we have already agreed. According to, there can be no recognition of Kosovo’s independence or UN membership. Third, it cannot have physical attacks, i.e. endangering the safety of the Serbs. These are our red lines. We are ready for peace, but another country is needed for that,” Dacic said.
He explained that the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and the government, s the request to KFOR to return representatives of the Serbian armed forces to Kosovoit will try to “set the record straight” before the international community and find out whether UN Security Council Resolution 1244 has been fully implemented.
“We know these are rhetorical questions, i.e. we already know the answer to these questions. As they are now trying to prove that the Brussels Agreement does not exist, they are treating resolution 1244 in the same way,” Dacic told RTS.
Said that the international community does not want to respect or fully implement Resolution 1244, but also that it cannot repeal itbecause a majority is needed in the UN Security Council, while Pristina, he added, has already repeatedly asked for its cancellation, as well as the abolition of the UN – Unmik and Nato – Kfor missions.
Dacic also added this calling for the return of the Serbian army and police to northern KosovoSerbia wants to show that it is obligation of the international community to protect all citizens of Kosovo.
All representatives of the international community say they are aware that as long as Albin Kurti is Prime Minister of Kosovo there will be no peace or agreement with Pristina and that Kurti is the biggest destabilizing factor in the region right nowDacic said.
Asked about the “biggest pressure on Serbia so far” that Serbian President Vucic said would follow when Kosovo applied for EU membership on Dec. 15, Dacic said it would likely be a “condensation of different types of pressure.” to accept the situation on the ground, (reach) a final agreement which would mean the recognition of Kosovo and the approval of Kosovo’s accession to the EU and the Council of Europe.
“As far as the EU is concerned, there is an opportunity to contest this, although there is no majority, as it is unlikely to get a majority, but a consensus will be needed if the status issue is raised. The Czech Republic is the president, he gets the request. Whether this request will be initially rejected due to the status of Kosovo or sent to the European Commission for an opinion so that they discuss it for a year also depends on the current president,” Dacic said.
He made it clear to the Serbs in Kosovo, who are at the barricades this morningthat Serbia will be at their side.
“They certainly won’t be without the support of their country. They can be sure that we will make the maximum diplomatic effort, I hope only diplomatic and political, to protect our people in Kosovo and Metohija if necessary, and other peoples, of course,” Dacic said.
Recall that a new escalation began in northern Kosovo on Saturday, caused by local Serbs. The reason for this was the detention of the former Kosovo policeman of Serbian origin, Dejan Pantic.
He was arrested for an alleged attack on an election commission office, police officers and commission officials, Pristina police said.
In the town of Zubin Potok in northern Kosovo, there was shooting for a quarter of an hour and two explosions erupted near the town of Kosovska Mitrovica. The Serbian newspaper “Vecherne Novosti” reported it on Saturday.
According to the newspaper explosions are recorded in Zvečan, which is located in the Kosovska-Mitrovica region of Kosovo. Earlier, there were reports of shootings in another area in northern Kosovo.
In the last two years tensions between Serbia and Kosovo have periodically escalatedwhen the Kosovo authorities made a decision to replace Serbian-issued registration numbers of cars in regions where ethnic Serbs form the majority.
Only a few days ago it became clear that The EU drafted a new deal to settle the conflict. The plan for normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbiait has a clear timetable of actions and was sent to both sides earlier in the week.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008., but relations remain tense. Belgrade and Pristina engaged in an EU-led dialogue in 2013 to resolve outstanding issues, but little progress has been made.
The agreement with Kosovo remains one of the main preconditions for Serbia’s accession to the EU.
