Starović: Technical negotiations depend on the situation in northern Kosovo and Metohija

At Radio-television of Serbia, Starović confirmed that there was an invitation to the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petković and Priština negotiator Besnik Bisljimi from the European Foreign Policy Service to appear tomorrow for the new round of technical negotiations.

“Whether this meeting will take place and how it will look like depends on which course the situation in the field, in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, will take today and tomorrow. It is completely certain that there cannot and will not be discussion on the continuation of the dialog in its political dimension as long as the preconditions President Aleksandar Vučić discussed are not met”, said Starović.

He said that these preconditions referred to the return to the situation before unilateral moves of Priština and withdrawal of Rosu.

Starović said that tomorrow the meeting of technical teams would be held and that the political dialog which currently did not have the perspective until the approach of Priština side changed was much more important.

“The essence is in what Aleksandar Vučić asked the EU. The EU received the mandate to be the mediator from the UN General Assembly. The EU is a kind of guarantee of the Brussels Agreement and it has to provide a clear response whether the Brussels Agreement is valid or not and from the highest and most credible levels of the EU, not spokespersons. If we receive firm guarantees that it is valid, it needs to be changed”, said Starović.

He said that on 19th July in Brussels the conduct of Priština could be predicted when Albin Kurti refused to sign the statement prepared by the European mediator with three items referring to the two parties working on solving of the issue of the missing persons, refraining from the actions which leads to destabilization of the situation in the field and meeting again.

“Kurti refused this document prepared by the European mediators and said that he only accepted the third item about meeting again. It was very sinister that on 19th July Kurti refused to sign this statement, especially when we talk about the second item. At that moment he practically announced his intentions and moves they will make eight days ago. Many people pretended then they didn’t see his intentions”, said Starović.

He says that upon the escalation in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, Kurti says again that the dialog is not a priority for him and states that, even if the current crisis is solved, which we hope, there are a few more items of political escalation ahead of us.

“If Kurti’s intention is to completely reject the Brussels Agreement and give up on the dialog, he can do it in several ways, suspend the electricity delivery for a few days, not to mention the case of Ivan Todosijević”, said Starović.

On the occasion of the protest of the Serbs in Jarinje and Brnjak because of the arrival of Rosu and Priština’s decision on the replacement of Serbian plates, Starović praised brave and bold people from the northern Kosovo and Metohija.

“President Aleksandar Vučić clearly highlighted what our red lines are, general guidelines and that we cannot accept the fait accompli policy in which Kurti changes the situation in the field by unilateral measures and enters the negotiation process from this changed situation. It is important to withdraw measures and specialized units of Rosu in order to have the continuation of negotiations”, said Starović.

He highlighted that there is an intensive communication with Quinta countries and international participants and that it was clear to everyone that Belgrade had not made a single move which would lead to destabilization and it was the exclusive responsibility of Priština administration.

“The mobilization of the Serbian Armed Forces unit is something every sovereign country is entitled to, it is not a threat to anyone, but a normal demonstration in the function of discouraging anyone from even thinking about endangering the safety of our people. Aleksandar Vučić was clear, we will not allow another Flash (Bljesak), Storm (Oluja), 2004 pogrom or anything similar”, Starović said.

He stated that pursuant to the Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council the greatest responsibility for the safety of the entire population is the one of KFOR and that KFOR is obliged to provide security if a serious endangerment of the safety of our people takes place.

“If it doesn’t happen, Serbia will give a reasonable deadline to provide mechanisms for it, if it doesn’t happen, Serbia will protect the lives of its population”, Starović said. He added that Serbia continually enjoys strong support of China and Russia which could only be stronger.