Petkovic, NATO official discuss Ibar bridge

BRUSSELS - The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic said on Tuesday he had had a "good and constructive meeting" with NATO Assistant Secretary General Thomas Goffus about security threats in the north of the autonomous province of Kosovo-Metohija that were related to a potential opening to traffic of a Kosovska Mitrovica bridge on the Ibar River.

"Belgrade's delegation is pleased because the discussion partners heard out our arguments about security challenges related to this sensitive issue," Petkovic wrote in a post on X.

Belgrade's delegation, headed by Petkovic, held a bilateral meeting with the EU special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak and his team in Brussels on Tuesday after Lajcak also met with a Pristina delegation headed by Besnik Bislimi.

After the meeting with Lajcak, Petkovic said no trilateral meeting of the EU-facilitated dialogue had taken place as Bislimi had rejected such a discussion format because Belgrade's delegation had insisted on topics such as a Community of Serb Municipalities, postal services and implementation of agreements and presented measures aimed at protecting the Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija.