Dacic: Positions on judiciary brought closer

BRUSSELS - Representatives of Belgrade and Pristina have managed to bring their positions closer on the judiciary, Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic has said, announcing that an agreement will be finalised in the coming days.

"I think we have managed to bring the positions considerably closer," Dacic said late Wednesday in Brussels after the 22nd round of the dialogue with Pristina's delegation, headed by Kosovo Prime Minister Hasim Taci.

Task forces and experts are expected to finalise the text in the coming days, so that we can meet again soon to also make a political decision on reaching an agreement on the judiciary, he said.

The exact date of the next meeting in Brussels has not yet been set, but it could take place in the next "seven to ten days, in two weeks at the latest," he said.

Wednesday's discussions in Brussels were hectic and difficult - Belgrade and Pristina maintained differing positions, with the Kosovo ethnic Albanians unwilling to accept a division of the Kosovska Mitrovica court on ethnic grounds, Dacic said.

The position of Belgrade's delegation was that, if a single court and a single prosecutor's office are formed in Kosovska Mitrovica, it will not mean that Serbs in northern Kosovo-Metohija would lose their specific identity and authenticity, since there are seven municipalities in that part of the province, rather than just four (which have a Serb majority), Dacic said.

"We found some solutions that would allow for a distribution of (court) cases by certain categories and provide one part of a building to employees. On the other hand, the Court of Appeals will also be based there," Dacic said.

Under the agreement, if a single court is formed, the majority of...