Dacic: Community first and decisive step for implementation of EU proposal

BELGRADE - Serbian FM Ivica Dacic said on Wednesday Belgrade wanted the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo-Metohija to be the first, the decisive and the defining step for implementation of an EU proposal on normalisation of Belgrade-Pristina relations.

At a press conference with Swedish FM Tobias Billstrom, Dacic noted that the Brussels Agreement, which stipulates the establishment of the Community, had been signed exactly ten years ago.

"Today is the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Brussels Agreement, which I signed at the time as PM. Ten years on, there is a huge question mark over the Community of Serb Municipalities, the first item of the Brussels Agreement," he said.

It is very important that everyone in Europe and around the world understand why Serbia wants the establishment of the Community to be the first, the decisive and the defining condition for implementing the proposal, Dacic said.

"We do not want to embark on a period of uncertainty again and wait again for years for the Community of Serb Municipalities to be established," he said.

Responding to questions from reporters about the EU's request that Serbia align with its foreign policy, including on Russia, Dacic said the unresolved issue of Kosovo-Metohija's status, rather than sanctions on Russia, was the central question in Serbia's EU accession talks.

"Serbia has made a clear stand on the issue of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine... We have taken no stand on introducing sanctions, for the sake of our political, national, state and economic interests," he said.