Petkovic: We insisted on Serb municipalities and presented deescalation plan

BRUSSELS - The director of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic said on Tuesday evening that, during a trilateral meeting of the EU-facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Belgrade's delegation had insisted on the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities and presented a deescalation plan for the north of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo-Metohija.

Speaking to reporters after a series of meetings in Brussels, Petkovic said the discussions had been difficult and strenuous and that he had insisted on a normalisation of relations that must start with deescalation and the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities.

"I also spoke about Albin Kurti's terror against the Serbs, especially in the north (of Kosovo-Metohija), and we again submitted a list of the most recent escalatory moves. I spoke about arrests, persecution of Serb representatives from Srpska lista and about other issues, such as missing persons. I confirmed our participation in a June 26 Geneva meeting of the working group on the issue of missing persons," Petkovic said.

He added that problems regarding MTS and the energy sector had also been discussed and that a request had been made for Belgrade's liaison officer in Pristina to be given permission to visit incarcerated Serbs.

"But the most important thing is that the Community of Serb Municipalities must be formed, and that discussions about the Community statute must be continued. That is where things came to a halt a year and a half ago. Pristina did not want to continue discussions about that issue, and that is also when the horrible decision to abolish the dinar was made. We must discuss the statute, and the Community of Serb Municipalities must be established. I also spoke about closures of Serbian institutions," Petkovic said.

He noted that Belgrade's delegation had presented a deescalation plan at the meeting.

"The issue of human rights must be the number one issue and dominate, and be a topic above all topics," Petkovic said.

He added it had been agreed for the chief negotiators to continue the dialogue at technical level in early July, and that EU special envoy Peter Sorensen and his aides would visit Belgrade and Pristina in the meantime.

Tuesday's discussions in Brussels took place in several formats, initially in a trilateral one, after which Belgrade's delegation had a bilateral meeting with the EU delegation.