After more than 12 hours of talks the 8th circle of the dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo ended this morning. Despite the positive expectations and the long talk in Brussels a progress in the relations between the two countries has not been made. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, who was a mediator in the negotiations, reluctantly declared that “the differences between the two countries are just a few but they are very deep”.
“Now the Prime Ministers are going back to their countries where they will have consultations with their colleagues and in the coming days they are going to inform me about their decision. I wish them a nice trip and success in reaching an agreement,” added Ashton.
Reaching an agreement was very important for Serbia because it could have influenced positively on the report of the European Commission for the Belgrade’s progress in the accession process. The document will be presented on 16 April and as a most important condition for the positive evaluation EU has pointed out the good relations between the authorities of Belgrade and Pristina.
“Despite the long talks we have not reached an agreement. There is little time left for making a decision,” stated after the meeting the Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic.
Serbia continues to deny the independence of its former province which in 2008 split and declared its independence. The Serbian authorities continue to insist for a wide autonomy of North Kosovo which is populated mainly with Serbs, but the authorities in Kosovo reject to make such a concession.
In January the Serbian government accepted a resolution which categorically rejects the independence of Kosovo and which additionally distracted the country from its pro-European course. The resolution was accepted by initiative of the nationalists from the Serbian Progressive Party of the President Tomislav Nikolic. In this resolution they insist on full autonomy of the Serbian enclaves where more than 10% of the 2 million population in Kosovo lives.
At the time Nikolic stated in front of the media that the document is a “guarantee for the safety of the Serbian national interests”. Not surprisingly, the tension reflected on the negotiations which started yesterday. Before the beginning of the dialogue the two countries declared that they will not agree to any concessions that are in direct contradiction with their laws and priorities in an external political aspect.
