Metohija

Serbian Patriarch Irinej has said that Serbia can never give away Kosovo and Metohija, and that it was not yet time for the visit of Pope Francis.

"Kosovo can be taken away, be occupied as it is today, but Serbia can never say 'we are giving that away', because what is given away is lost forever, while what is taken away by force, is taken back the same way," the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) told TV Hram, commenting on "the internal dialogue on KIM (Kosovo and Metohija)."

LEBANE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday he believed a more serious debate in the internal dialogue on Kosovo-Metohija could begin in early spring.

Vucic was responding to reporters' questions in the town of Lebane on Thursday when he said the issue of Kosovo was "very important to us, and in the internal dialogue, it is important that people speak the truth."

He is the first victim of measles in Serbia. The patient had not been inoculated against the infectious disease.

Since October, a total of 630 persons in central Serbia and in Serb-majority areas in Kosovo and Metohija contracted the disease, the Public Health Institute Batut announced on Tuesday.

Aleksandar Vulin says that Moscow's readiness to engage in Belgrade's dialogue with Pristina - if the format changes - changes everything.

According to the Serbian defense minister, "this actually means the return of the United Nations to the negotiations."

ZVECAN - The long history of the Trepca mining and metallurgy complex in Kosovo-Metohija means it is no longer just a business entity, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic wrote in a letter commemorating the 90th anniversary of the complex.

BELGRADE - The government of the Republic of Suriname has revoked the decision to recognise Kosovo-Metohija as an independent state, Serbian FM Ivica Dacic announced on Tuesday.

A diplomatic note on this arrived from Suriname last night, Dacic said.

BELGRADE - The task of the working group set up to support the internal dialogue on Kosovo-Metohija in the coming months will be to listen to, and gather, all opinions from the broadest social spectrum on one of the most significant topics for us, the group's head Marko Djuric said Monday at the body's first session.

PRISTINA - Kosovo's central election commission has decided that the run-off local elections in 19 municipalities in Kosovo-Metohija be held on November 19.

The official election campaign is scheduled for November 13-17.

Tanjug file photo, Boki