Vucic: Pristina unwilling to meet its commitment, I hope dialogue will continue

BRUSSELS - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said late on Tuesday Pristina did not want to meet a commitment it had made ten years ago and that this had been clear since a presentation of a draft statute of a Community of Serb Municipalities at a Brussels meeting earlier in the evening.

"I was very concerned - it is clear Pristina does not want to meet its commitment from ten years ago. We hit the wall for the first time today and it was clear since the moment the steering team's draft was presented," Vucic said, noting that Pristina's representatives had tried to humiliate two female members of the team.

"Their (Pristina's) reaction was that it is unacceptable to them and not in line with their constitution and that they do not want another 'Republika Srpska', even though all articles contain clear references to previously agreed articles from 2013 and 2015. There is no item that has not been agreed or signed," Vucic told reporters in Brussels after a new round of the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue that concluded around 9 pm.

I hope discussions will be continued and that we will be able to find solutions in the future, he added.

"You will hear countless excuses, but the essence is this: the EU came out with its proposal and I accepted that proposal, but Pristina refused that, too," he said.

I hope someone will influence Pristina to change its positions, otherwise we are in a "dead-end situation", he said.

"I hope that by the next round at technical level, be it held on May 18, 20 or in the days after May 20, there will be a reaction that could influence a change of positions," he said.

He said he was not optimistic but that he was able to promise on behalf of Serbia that he would do everything in his power to preserve peace.