Djuric: Belgrade engaging constructively in dialogue, Pristina taking unilateral moves

ANTALYA - Serbia's caretaker FM Marko Djuric said on Monday Belgrade was engaging constructively in the EU-facilitated dialogue with Pristina with the aim of creating a secure, stable and prosperous environment but that the Pristina authorities were making unilateral moves.

"We would like to see the implementation of the Brussels Agreement and all the other agreements, which could contribute to lowering the tension and increasing understanding," Djuric told Turkey's TRT World TV channel in an interview.

"I see that the authorities in Pristina have been taking some unilateral steps on the ground to move the situation to their advantage. Unfortunately, this has led to a decrease of the collective political and cultural and other rights of the Serbian community, so we are concerned because of that," Djuric noted.

Kosovo-Metohija is a "very complex and sensitive issue" because, for the Serbs, it is not just 13 per cent of our territory, Djuric explained.

It answers one of the most fundamental questions for every nation, the question of who we are, he said.

"The seat of the Serbian church, which has existed for 800 years, is in the monastery of Pec, which is in Kosovo today. It is a Serbian UNESCO world heritage monastery," Djuric said, noting that the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church was unable to visit the monastery.

Speaking about the economy and the region, Djuric said:

"For Serbia, maintaining stability and peace in our region is a prerequisite for our continued growth, as we strive to take our rightful place at the table in Brussels, where I believe we need to have a say in forming Europe's foreign and security policy."

"And we can also contribute a lot, because Serbia, with a growth rate of over 4 pct annually and with the fact that it has more than doubled its GDP in less than a decade, can actually help foster European growth. We are not coming to Brussels to beg or to ask, but we also believe we can play a stabilising role in the Balkan region. As a FM, in the coming months I will take additional efforts to talk with all the parties in our region," Djuric said.