Dacic: I have never said we were tricked into signing Brussels Agreement

BELGRADE - Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic noted on Monday he had never said, and would never say, that Serbia, President Aleksandar Vucic or he himself had been tricked into signing the 2013 Brussels Agreement and added that, by saying that Serbia had been tricked, he was referring to implementation of the agreement and Pristina's failure to deliver on its commitments, with tacit support from the EU and the US.

"As someone who was directly and responsibly involved in the process of reaching the Brussels Agreement in 2013, I want to be very clear and precise. I have never said, nor would I say, that we - Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic or I, were tricked into signing the Brussels Agreement. Such a wording would imply that we did not know what we were signing, that we did not understand the significance of the document, or that we are incapable of assessing the political reality. That is not only untrue, but deeply insulting to every statesperson who had the responsibility of making decisions on behalf of Serbia at the time," Dacic said in a statement.

He noted that the Brussels Agreement had been a result of months-long tedious and complex talks overseen and coordinated by the top EU institutions, along with an active and supportive role of the US.

He said he was convinced that both Belgrade and international partners had had a sincere desire to move towards normalisation of Belgrade-Pristina relations, but with strict respect for all commitments on both sides.

"So today, when I say that we were tricked, I do not mean that we did not know what we were signing. I mean that we were tricked in the implementation of the agreement. We were tricked because what was presented at the time as a serious international agreement, with equal commitments for both sides and control mechanisms, has not been carried out in practice. We were tricked not because we did not understand the text of the agreement, but because we were unable to even assume the degree of passivity, selectivity and political opportunism that would mark its implementation," Dacic said.

He noted that, among other matters, the Brussels Agreement had implied the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities, an institution that should be the fundamental guarantor of the collective rights of Kosovo-Metohija Serbs, in line with the European principles of decentralisation, local self-government and protection of human rights.

That commitment, stated in a very precise and formal manner and undertaken by Pristina, remains unfulfilled to this day, Dacic said.

"Not only has it not been met - on several occasions, it has been openly rejected, disparaged and ridiculed before the eyes of the entire international community. Serbia, as a serious state and a responsible partner to the international community, has met its part of the commitments from that agreement," Dacic noted.

He said the EU, as the guarantor and facilitator, had not demonstrated the same determination and principledness when the time had come to bind Pristina to implement the agreement and deliver on its commitments.

"Instead of using its political and institutional authority to insist on implementation of the agreement and establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities, Brussels has opted for silence, calls for 'mutual restraint' and endless 'technical consultations' that have never produced results. That way, an agreement that was to be an instrument of normalisation became a document of unilateral implementation, which is absolutely unacceptable," Dacic noted.

He said US partners had acted in the same way.

"At the time when the US was providing full political and diplomatic support for dialogue, expressing understanding for Serbian security and political concerns and confirming the significance of compromise, we believed the support would be sincere and permanent. But unfortunately, we faced a practice in which the two sides were treated using different standards, and in which Serbia was expected and required, often under pressure, to fulfil everything, while the Kosovo side was rewarded even when it did not fulfil anything," Dacic said.

In an appearance on the RTS on Sunday, Dacic said the international community had allowed everything to depend on the good will of Pristina's PM Albin Kurti and on whether he would honour reached agreements or not.

"And now someone will try to convince us that they cannot convince Kurti - we are not foolish or stupid. Therefore, to put it honestly, we were tricked, because that is not what we were told when we were signing the Brussels Agreement. We entered into all those agreements in good faith exclusively in order to achieve compromise that would be in the interest of all in Kosovo-Metohija," Dacic said.

In a reaction to the statement, Dragan Djilas, leader of the opposition Freedom and Justice Party, has blamed Dacic for everything that has been going on in Serbia in the past 13 years and said foreign powers had tricked him and Vucic when it comes to signing the Brussels deal.