Belgrade-Priština talks to start soon

Serbian President Boris Tadić met with EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Catherine Ashton in New York on Thursday. He told reporters after the meeting that the dialogue between Belgrade and Priština will begin soon, “but that the sides should resolve technical issues before that”. 

Tadić said on the sidelines of the 65th General Assembly of the UN that he and Ashton agreed on important elements of the dialogue, who would chair it and in which way, the FoNet news agency reported.

Tadić said that it was early to speak about the participants in the dialogue, but that “there is no dilemma that the negotiating teams will consist of experts.” He also announced that the EU will form its own team, which will participate in the talks and facilitate the overcoming of contested issues.

The Serbian president said that Belgrade had proposed that the talks start with those issues that are the easiest to solve, in order for the entire dialogue to be conducted in a good atmosphere.

Tadić said that Ashton assured him that the EU countries would work very intensely during October on pushing forward Serbia’s EU membership candidacy.

“For this purpose, I had talks in New York today with the German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, who assured me that Berlin will provide principled support to Serbia’s European integration,” Tadić said.

He also met with Russian and Spanish FMs Sergei Lavrov and Miguel Angel Moratinos, and Greek PM George Papandreou. Tadić attended a reception held by Barack Obama and met with the U.S. president.

The Serbian president is scheduled to address the General Assembly session in New York on Saturday.