Serbia is ready to continue dialogue with Pristina because no new conditions will be imposed on Belgrade in the European integration process, and the European Union will remain status neutral in dealing with problems in Kosovo, Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele concluded at their meeting in Belgrade on Thursday.
"Commissioner Fuele has told me that there are no new conditions for the continuation of dialogue and that dialogue, if Serbia was to take part in it, would be status neutral," Dacic told the press after the meeting.
Fuele arrived in Belgrade a day after the European Commission released a report on Serbia's progress in the European integration process and after Dacic delivered a sharp-worded statement saying that the Commission's position that Serbia should respect the territorial integrity of Kosovo might lead to "shutting down the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina."
Fuele explained that the reference in the EU Enlargement Strategy to Kosovo's territorial integrity had nothing to do with Kosovo's status but reflected the EU's position that there could be no division of Kosovo.
I told Prime Minister Dacic that there are no new conditions in relation to what was decided last December. The position of the European Commission regarding Kosovo remains status neutral, Fuele said.
Dacic said that Serbia did not dispute the need for visible and sustainable improvement in relations between Belgrade and Pristina, as stated in the progress report, but the reference to the territorial integrity of Kosovo. He stressed that Belgrade was ready to continue dialogue with Pristina provided it was "status neutral and without new conditions".
Dacic said that the president, government and parliament of Serbia would formulate a single policy to ensure that Belgrade was given a date for the start of EU accession negotiations next year.
"We are ready for dialogue with the EU, but I expect the European Commission to have enough understanding for the specific problems of Serbia, which are more specific than those of other countries. Serbia cannot accept conditions that would mean recognition of Kosovo," Dacic said.
Fuele was also scheduled to meet with President Tomislav Nikolic, members of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Suzana Grubjesic and Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic.
