Petkov: Yesterday I insisted on talking about Association in Brussels

Serbian chief negotiator Petar Petkoviq, after yesterday's meeting in Brussels with EU Emissar, Lajcak, said he has insisted on talking about the Association of Serb-run municipalities on which the issue has been accepted by Kosovo chief negotiator Besnik Bislimi.

He said talks in Brussels were hampered by Kosovo's decision to apply for membership in the Council of Europe.

“I also used this moment to protest Pristina's unilateral and illegal decision”, Petkov told reporters.

Petkov said the talks were difficult and have lasted more than 8 hours.

The fact that we are still here in Brussels shows that we are responsible parties who care for peace and stability in the Western Balkans and if someone attacks us we are the ones who want destabilisation and there has been effort in recent days, we are the responsible side”, he has declared.

The chief of the so-called Office for Kosovo in Serbia's government also said that association is the key and most important issue for Belgrade.

This is a key issue for us without that normalisation of relations. It is a corruption for the individual and collective rights of Serbs in Kosovo and we must protect our people in Kosovo”, he said.

Petkovic claims the Serbian side offered constructive solutions in the talks.

yesterday's discussions have continued on topics discussed three weeks ago, including the issue of car license plates.

Besnik Bislimi, the Kosovo chief officer, has called the trip to Brussels futile, after saying the Serb side has not presented a proposal regarding the license plate issue that he said had warned him about.

The expectations have been enormous since the meeting occurred at the request of the Serbian side. Unfortunately, today we have seen a very strange behaviour of the Serbian side, which says we have an idea but we can't disclose”, Bislimi said.