Community of Serb Municipalities

BRUSSELS - The EU special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak says a draft statute of the Community of Serb Municipalities, presented by a management team at a May 2 meeting in Brussels, is not final, but that it is "an important starting point for the upcoming discussions on the Chief Negotiators' level."

BELGRADE - The head of the Serbian parliamentary committee on Kosovo-Metohija Milovan Drecun says the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities will be very difficult to achieve without strong Western pressure on Pristina.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday Serbia was facing great danger over the issue of Kosovo-Metohija "through no fault of our own."

Speaking at a press conference, Vucic said Tuesday's meeting of the Brussels dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina had been aimed at tricking Serbia into recognising the so-called Kosovo both de facto and de iure.

BELGRADE - The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic said that, after Tuesday's round of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue in Brussels, it was clear that Pristina's PM Albin Kurti wanted neither the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities nor peace.

BRUSSELS - EU foreign policy and security chief Josep Borrell said Tuesday's round of the Brussels dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina had produced an "important and symbolic step" towards the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities.

Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Tuesday refused to accept a draft statute for the establishment of an Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities to represent Serbs' interests in Kosovo, claiming it would establish an entity like Bosnia and Herzegovina's Serb-dominated Republika Srpska, whose leaders have repeatedly challenged the legitimacy of their state.

BRUSSELS - A new round of the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue began in Brussels on Tuesday evening.

The meeting began shortly after 6 pm, with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Pristina's PM Albin Kurti expected to discuss a statute of a Community of Serb Municipalities and a declaration on missing persons.

BELGRADE - Serbian FM Ivica Dacic said on Monday Pristina had been working for a decade on avoiding the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities and would continue that policy in the next round of the Brussels dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina on Tuesday.

BELGRADE - Serbian First Deputy PM and FM Ivica Dacic said on Friday that, on instructions from President Aleksandar Vucic, he had made it clear in the UN Security Council on behalf of Serbia that Serbia would never recognise the so-called Kosovo and would not vote for its admission to the UN.

BRUSSELS - EU foreign policy and security chief Josep Borrell has called a high-level meeting of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue in Brussels for Tuesday, May 2, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Pristina's PM Albin Kurti have confirmed their participation.