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Kosovo ignores Brussels dialogue: Serbian PM

Xinhua, October 31, 2015 Adjust font size:

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic warned Kosovo authorities on Friday that the intention to suspend the agreement on the formation of the Community of Serbian municipalities is harmful for all Serbs in Kosovo.

According to a press release by the Serbian government, after his meeting with Angelina Eichhorst, director of the European External Action Service for Western Europe, Western Balkans and Turkey, Vucic said that the decision to suspend the formation of the collective body which would represent Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija is a sign that Pristina ignores deals reached in Brussels.

"The future of the dialogue depends on the readiness of Pristina to conduct agreements that were reached so far, especially the one about the Community of Serbian municipalities," he stressed, according to the release, and said that the suspension is a negative and bad message for Serbs in the province inhabited mostly by Albanians.

The formation of the Community of Serbian municipalities was envisaged as a plan back in 2013 between Serbia and Kosovo, and the agreement was signed on Aug. 25 this year in Brussels. But it was not formed this year because of the conflicts and struggle for power among Kosovo parties.

Based on the agreement, Serbs in Kosovo could form the community, which would become a collective body of Serbian municipalities in Kosovo and control areas of economic development, education, health, urban and rural planning, however, Albanian politicians in Kosovo feel that Brussels agreement gives Serbs autonomy.

Two days ago Kosovo leader Atifete Jahjaga asked the Constitutional court to decide if the agreement about the formation of the Community of the Serb Municipalities is in line with the constitution of Kosovo.

According to the law, the deadline for the court to deliver the verdict is 60 days, during which period the agreement will be temporarily suspended.

Vucic said that by suspending the agreement, the authorities in Pristina are not fulfilling their role within the EU-mediated dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo held in Brussels, the release continues.

Kosovo, a southern province of Serbia, unilaterally declared independence in 2008. Serbia categorically refuses to recognize the move. Endit