Dacic: Brussels Agreement has remained dead letter due to Pristina

BERLIN - Serbian Deputy PM and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said in Berlin on Tuesday the Brussels Agreement had remained a dead letter due to Pristina's failure to meet its commitments, and that, 11 years after the signature of the agreement, a Community of Serb Municipalities had still not been formed in Kosovo-Metohija.

Dacic was responding to a statement by Pristina's so-called interior minister.

Addressing a ministerial meeting of the Berlin Process, Dacic refuted claims by Pristina's representative the so-called Kosovo was a "frontrunner" in implementation of international agreements and a serious partner in the fight against crime and irregular migration.

Dacic noted that the Berlin Process had been a result of a positive atmosphere created in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue by the signature of the Brussels Agreement in 2013, an official statement said.

"I signed that agreement on behalf of Serbia, Hasim Taci signed it on behalf of Pristina and Catherine Ashton signed it on behalf of the EU, with direct support from then (German) Chancellor Angela Merkel and US State Secretary Hillary Clinton. I must say that, ten years after the launch of the Berlin Process and 11 years after the Brussels Agreement, I could not agree with that statement - I would say the situation is completely the opposite of what I heard from Pristina's representative - that 'Kosovo' is a frontrunner in implementation of reforms," Dacic said.

The Brussels Agreement has remained a dead letter, and Pristina has not only refused to implement the agreement but is also wreaking terror on Serbs, Dacic said.

"Eleven years on, a Community of Serb Municipalities - guaranteed by the EU, Angela Merkel and Hillary Clinton - has not been formed. But special police has been sent to the north of Kosovo-Metohija, inhabited exclusively by Serbs. That is not permitted under an agreement with NATO, made when Hasim Taci, Catherine Ashton and I were at the NATO headquarters. There are no Serb police officers in the north, there are no Serb judges or prosecutors either, but there are arrests of Serbs and there is a ban on Serbian goods, and expulsion of Serbian institutions and authorities," Dacic said.

There might be court proceedings, but none against those who have committed crimes against Serbs, he said.

He noted that no investigations had been launched into incidents in which Kosovo-Metohija Serbs had been shot and wounded.

"I know well that entire 'Kosovo' was a black hole of organised crime when the EU was introducing visa liberalisation. I know well that Germany was against granting visa liberalisation (to Pristina)," Dacic added.