Apostolovic: CoE membership for Pristina unacceptable

BRUSSELS - The head of Serbia's Mission to the EU Danijel Apostolovic noted on Friday that Serbia had made evident progress on meeting EU accession criteria and that the country was long ready to open Cluster 3 on competition and inclusive growth in its accession talks, which he said were "held hostage by unfortunate and grave geopolitical circumstances."

At a session of a Serbia-EU consultative committee, Apostolovic also said the international community and many EU member states should be ashamed of their actions in their advocacy of CoE membership for the so-called Kosovo.

"That is unacceptable, to say the least. It is a dangerous precedent that will have serious consequences. The entire international community is aware that, as I have already noted, Pristina has been failing to establish a Community of Serb Municipalities for 11 years now. That is hypocrisy, double standards and disrespect of its own signature on the Brussels Agreement," Apostolovic said.

Speaking about the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, he said the situation remained alarming as Pristina "continues with provocations and unilateral actions, jeopardising overall peace and stability in the entire region."

"For 11 years now, we have been waiting for the establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities. For now, I do not see a light at the end of this tunnel, or an adequate reaction or adequate pressure on Pristina to do so," Apostolovic said, noting that, on the other hand, Serbia had remained constructive, meeting all its commitments.

"The abolition of Serbian payment transactions and the dinar as the legal tender has made life even more unbearable for Serbs in the province, expelling the Serb population from Kosovo-Metohija," he also said.