„What they did was an attempt to end the dialogue. And they believed that after what they said, we would angrily leave the room, go out and never return, but of course, we did not do that,“ the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic, said today following a new round of dialogue in Brussels with the Pristina delegation led by Albin Kurti.
Vucic stated that the two sides did not agree on anything and that Kurti does not want to form the ASM. He revealed that the Kosovan Prime Minister refuses to agree to Belgrade’s requests for excavations on the territory of Kosovo in search of the missing and that Kurti only came to ask him ‘when are you going to recognize Kosovo’. „I told him – never and then he exploded,“ the president said.
The length of the meeting speaks of its results – reads Vucic’s pessimistic take after the latest round of dialogue in Brussels today.
He summed up his impressions in „three important news“ for the citizens of Serbia.
1. The Albanian delegation does not want to fulfill the agreements signed by the Albanians, they do not want to talk about the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities at all.
2.They demanded urgently and immediately to hear when we will recognize an independent Kosovo.
3. The fact that Serbs want to attend liturgies in their churches, they refer to as incidents and provocations, since the land for those churches was given during the rule of Slobodan Milosevic.
„He came to ask when you’ll recognize Kosovo, I told him – never and he exploded“
The Belgrade and Pristina delegations did not agree on any issue at today’s meeting, the president said.
„The man did not come to reach an agreement on anything. He came to say: I came to ask you when you will recognize an independent Kosovo. My answer was – never. And then he exploded,“ Vucic added.
Serbia will not suspend the dialogue, but Pristina should fulfill what it promised and signed, Vucic stressed.
„It must be recognized, implemented, and fulfilled, call it whatever you want, but it should be completed properly, and then we can talk about other things. That is a burning issue,“ he said.
In his words, Pristina tried to end the dialogue in Brussels today.
„They attempted to end the dialogue. And they believed that after what they said, we would angrily leave the room, go out and never return, because there would be countless excuses for that. But of course, we did not do that, we are committed to dialogue, we will continue to work on dialogue. However, I just want you to understand that this did not look like a dialogue, but like someone expressing some personal political views.“
He revealed that an agreement was reached to continue the dialogue at the highest level by the end of July. Vucic also announced that technical teams would first meet to discuss the issue of missing persons.
Kurti refused excavations in Kosovo because Veljo Odalovic is Goring and Goebbels
Although the issue of missing persons was discussed at today’s meeting, Vucic assessed that Pristina showed a lack of constructiveness, seriousness, responsibility, and sense of reality.
„I talked about the principles, how important it is to discover every place where every Albanian, every Serb, every Albanian woman, every Serbian woman is buried, I offered, and I think it was fully understood by Josep Borrell and Lajcak, for them to share their suspicions on where any gravesite could be and that we will immediately open that place and show it to the public,“ the president said.
Vucic, on the other hand, requested that excavations be carried out at nine locations in Kosovo suspected to contain the bodies of murdered Serbs, in connection with which Belgrade had previously sent requests to Pristina.
According to Vucic, however, Pristina said that it will not allow this because the head of the Commission (cf. Government of Serbia’s Commission for Missing Persons) is Veljko Odalovic – “and Veljko Odalovic is Goring and Goebbels.”
„I told him (cf. Albin Kurti) that he looks more like Goebbels to me than Veljko Odalovic does,“ the president said, emphasizing that he failed to observe any kind of rational approach from Pristina.
Vucic noted that he never attended a meeting like this one.
„It had nothing to do with reality and responsibility. Now one would think that they told us who knows what – they didn’t. They blamed the EU more, not us,“ Vucic said.
I’m not going to tell you that at one point he went to war with Russia, and then he wanted to go to war with China, but well, it doesn’t matter, let that remain between us
When asked whether he insulted Kurti, Vucic replied said that he did not insult or curse at him, but also that he took on a relatively harsh approach.
„You can’t help but be relatively harsh if someone comes up to you and talks about Veljko Odalovic in the middle of discussing the issue of missing persons – ‘you know, he is a member of Milosevic’s party, he is Goring and Goebbels’. And you are looking at him and thinking – what is this man talking about now, what does this have to do with anything,“ added Vucic, noting that although he responded harshly, he also “did not cross a line.”
File a lawsuit, stop with the threats
Kosovo’s genocide lawsuit against Serbia was also discussed at the meeting. The president said that he told Kurti what he had previously said in Belgrade.
„File it, don’t threaten us anymore,“ said Vucic.
Kurti suggested establishing the National Council of Serbs instead of ASM – one doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry
The president underlined that Borrell and Lajcak behaved correctly, adding that they intervened several times. At the trilateral meeting, Kurti’s team, the president claims, came out with something they had not previously told EU representatives at the bilateral meeting.
„They went so far as to propose to us the following – the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities cannot do but instead the National Council for Serbs in Kosovo could be established, like the one Serbia introduced for national minorities in its country. And one doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry or what to do. And you understand that you are dealing with people who are foolish and irresponsible.“
Josep Borrell is set to meet with the US president, Joseph Biden, later in the day. Vucic expressed hope that Borrell will what happened convey to Biden „in a fair and precise way“.
He also hopes that the United States will come out with clear positions.
„And that it will be known who is responsible for little or no progress in the dialogue, and why some kind of political and security tensions came about once again.“
Vucic underlined that it should not be forgotten that the US and Germany, as well as other Western powers, participated in the creation of an independent Kosovo and that their position on this issue remains unchanged.
In any case, Vucic concludes that the essence of dialogue is always more important than form.
He alleged that is not the case for the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, who will, according to Vucic, have much more to say in his statement for the media than he actually said at the meeting.
„He needs that, today they announced some elections in Kosovo, let him brag and say whatever he wants, what is important for us – I am not satisfied with the essence – the essence is the most important. So, do you want to achieve something or not, do you want dialogue? And if you want to come and say – ‘I only came to ask you when you will recognize an independent Kosovo and I am not interested in anything else’, then it is clear that you did not come to the dialogue but to provoke the reaction of Belgrade and force me to leave the meeting.“
Talks with Kosovo Serbs representatives to take place soon, I worry about their safety
Vucic also said that Serbia will continue to apply a rational approach in the coming days. He announced talks with representatives of Kosovo Serbs, because, as he revealed, he is very scared.
I am very scared because I saw how much irresponsibility we will have to face in the future. Very scared, not because someone is very strong, but because of irresponsibility
He stated that he is afraid for the fate of Serbs in Kosovo because he now understands better who governs Pristina, adding that the Serbian side will do its best to continue the dialogue and provide security for the citizens.
„There is nothing more important for us than providing security and safety for our people in Kosovo and respecting everything that has been signed,“ Vucic underlined.
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