Vucic after meeting with Hoti, Borrell and Lajcak: We raised the issue of Serb Municipalities

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said today that, during a new round of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, two new topics have been opened - the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) as well as property and financial claims.

He said in a statement to reporters that missing persons, internally displaced persons and economic issues were also discussed today, and that it was agreed to open two new topics.

He stated that talks on the ZSO will be continued on September 17 at the level of negotiating teams' heads, and then on September 28 at the high level.

Vucic said that the most difficult issues are coming up, towards which there are completely opposing stances, which will make the talks complicated and difficult.

"In any case, I am not dissatisfied with today's meeting," he underlined.

 

 

 

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"Razgovarali smo o tri teme, o nestalim osobama, interno raseljenim licima i ekonomiji. Danas smo otvorili i dve nove teme, jedna je zajednica srpskih opština i druga je tema imovine. Suština razrade ekonomskih pitanja je slobodan protok roba, ljudi, kapitala i usluga, da više ne može da se pravi ekonomska šteta bilo kojoj strani i to je za nas veoma važno. To su pitanja od suštinskog značaja za našu zemlju i važno je da razmišljamo o budućnosti i uvek smo spremni da o njoj razgovaramo."A post shared by Aleksandar Vučić (@buducnostsrbijeav) on Sep 7, 2020 at 5:22am PDT

Topic of Kosovo and Metohija soon before Assembly

President Aleksandar Vucic announced today from Brussels that, as soon as a new government is formed and the Assembly begins to work at full capacity, the topic of Kosovo and Metohija will be presented to the people's deputies.

Vucic told reporters in Brussels that he spoke with Avdullah Hoti and Skender Hyseni in two sessions during the day, adding that those conversations are never easy or simple for Belgrade.

"As soon as a new government is formed and the Assembly starts working at its full capacity, we will go before the Assembly with the topic of Kosovo and Metohija. We had it in parliament 5-6 months ago, but we want everyone who participates in the talks to present to parliament what is being discussed, what we are doing, what is good and what we are not looking forward to," said Vucic.

"We expect talks recovery of Western Balkans"

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said today in Brussels that he expects a plan of economic recovery of the Western Balkans to be discussed.

"We don't expect as much money as was beingsaid earlier. But we expect the support of European taxpayers. Any help will further stimulate our economic agenda," Vucic told reporters after a new round of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

He said that the amount of the assistance is expected to be announced in the next month and a half.

"Let's see how much money and how many projects we can count on," he added.

"It's important there are no more taxes of any kind"

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stated today that the essential topic for Serbia, which was discussed today in the dialogue in Brussels, was the economy, i.e., to remove all barriers and enable free movement of goods, people, services and capital.

Vucic told journalists in Brussels that it is extremely important that no taxes or tariffs be introduced by either side in the future.

"That's important to us. Many people underestimate that, especially those who live decent lives and are not interested in such issues, but these are issues of essential importance for our country," said Vucic and recalled that the agreement reached in Washington means that Pristina would join the mini-Schengen initiative.

He pointed out that this will create a common market for labor and goods and that it will contribute to the progress of the entire region.

Vucic said that internally displaced persons and missing persons were also discussed in Brussels, as well as the possibility of inspecting all archives in order to investigate the location of the remains of 1,000 Albanians and about 530 Serbs, who are still listed as missing.

He pointed out that this would represent justice for them, but also for their children and family members.

Vucic pointed out that we should not overlook either of them and that both peoples deserve justice, because that, as he points out, builds trust for the future.

About the joint statement of Belgrade and Pristina

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said today that the meaning of a joint statement, which was signed in Brussels, is that the talks between Belgrade and Pristina will continue under the auspices of the EU, and that the agreements reached in Washington can contribute to the dialogue.

Asked about the joint statement signed by him and Prime Minister of the Provisional Institutions of Pristina Avdullah Hoti in Brussels ahead of today's round of talks at the highest level, Vucic said that the statement, as he understood, was signed by everyone together with the EU.

"I guess they saw the results of what we had in Washington, that they will use some of it, that the EU continues to be a facilitator of the dialogue," Vucic told reporters in Brussels.

He said that all important political topics are being discussed with the EU.

"They considered the results of our summit in Washington, they will look to use some of it and we will continue to talk in Brussels under the auspices of the EU, that is the meaning of the statement," said Vucic and added that the statement can be found on the website of the Presidency of Serbia.

The joint statement posted on the Presidency's website reads:

"On the occasion of the continuation of the EU facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti confirmed to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, that they attach the highest priority to EU integration and to continuing the work on the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue which is a key element of their respective EU paths.

They also committed to redoubling their efforts to ensure further EU alignment in accordance with their respective obligations.

In this respect, the recently agreed documents in Washington, DC, building on previous dialogue-related commitments undertaken by the two parties could provide a useful contribution to reaching a comprehensive, legally binding agreement on normalization of relations."

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)