"Belgrade-Pristina dialogue could continue as early as in July": Vucic after talks with Lajcak

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, met on Monday in Belgrade with EU's special representative for the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Miroslav Lajcak.

The EU special representative arrived in Belgrade at around 5:30 pm, and was welcomed at the Nikola Tesla airport by Minister for European Integration Jadranka Joksimovic.

After this, they headed to Villa Mir, where Lajcak met with President Vucic.

"We expect the continuation of the dialogue, possibly in July, but it is up to the special representative to determine that," said Vucic after the meeting.

He said that the dialogue cannot be conducted on the principle "we cannot negotiate what's mine, let's negotiate what's yours," in that way recalling the words of US President John F. Kennedy, explaining the position of Pristina.

"I told Lajcak that dialogue is not possible if the only condition is for us to recognize independence of Kosovo. Pristina cannot provide us with a table of requests before each meeting that it knows we cannot and do not want to meet. We are grateful to (US envoy) Richard Grenell for all the effort he has made, but Serbia above all supports everything that the EU is doing to reach an agreement between the Serbian and Albanian sides, because EU membership is our goal and we cannot separate that," the president stressed.

Pointing out that a "difficult and grueling schedule" awaits him, the president said that he would talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, then go to Washington, and continue to Slovenia for a meeting of the Brdo-Brioni process.

"Easy days are not ahead of us, there will be no easy issues for Serbia, but I believe that with serious approach, work and responsibility we will manage to protect vital state and national interests, security of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, preserve holy places in Kosovo and Metohija and ensure the future for all Serbian citizens," he said, adding that he told Lajcak the dialogue can never make sense if only side is essentially participating.

His message was also that Serbia is open for talks, entering the dialogue in good faith, and that is something that Belgrade is looking for from the other side as well.

Lajcak: I am not here to force an agreement

The EU special representative for the dialogue said that he was ready to fully engage and help the two sides, as well as that he would resolve all issues, after which he hopes that an agreement would be reached that would be acceptable to both sides.

 

 

 

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"Dobro došli u Srbiju!" - Predsednik Republike Srbije Aleksandar Vučić sastao se sa @miroslav.lajcak specijalnim predstavnikom Evropske unije za dijalog Beograda i Prištine i druga regionalna pitanja Zapadnog Balkana.A post shared by Aleksandar Vučić (@buducnostsrbijeav) on Jun 22, 2020 at 9:25am PDT

"Vucic understands how important this process is for the people. I expect that under the auspices of the EU, the dialogue will be able to continue in Brussels. Serbia is a part of Europe, your problems are our problems, and your future is European," said Lajcak, pointing out that he was visiting Belgrade for the first time as a representative of the European Union for the dialogue.

He said that he wanted to be very clear and that as a mediator he was not here to force anyone to reach an agreement, but to help both sides find solutions and reach an agreement that would be beneficial for everyone.

After his visit to Kosovo last week, Lajcak said that the date for the continuation of the dialogue in Brussels will be set after his visit to Belgrade, convinced that there are conditions for the continuation of that process and that the EU cannot be sidelined.

(Telegraf.rs)