Petkov: In the new round of dialogue we talk about Association

He has said the most concrete steps “will be taken against the formation of association, not as Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti wants, “por, as agreed through four agreements from 2013 and 2015”.

Petkov has told Serbia's Radio Television that the first point is the presentation of the Association Project by the Management Team, followed by a discussion on the proposal, which should include all points of general principles by 2015.

We will insist on this, it's in the spirit of the deal and we'll agree on it in Ohrid. Of course, we should insist on that, that without association it is simply impossible to speak of something else”, Petkovic stressed.

As it has become known in the first week of April, the Management Team must, by the end of the month, propose a draftt for forming the Association of Serb-run municipalities. This is confirmed by Kosovo's chief negotiator, Besnik Bislimi, and Serbia's Petkoviq, after their meeting in Brussels on April 4th.

However, it is not precisely known who makes up this team, which is tasked with drafting the Association statute. Despite continued requests to the Government of Kosovo, Radio Free Europe has failed to provide the names of people who are part of the Management Team.

Petkov has told RTS that Kosovo has refused to form the Association for exactly 10 years since the signing of the Brussels Agreement, and has confirmed that the international community carries particular responsibility for this.

When you look at everything that's happened in the last 10 years, you will see that the international community, the European Union, and those who have supported the dialogue process, bear a special responsibility because they were obliged to pressure Pristina to form the Association”, Petkovic has declared.

According to him, the association constitutes <x0mele of the dialogue process”, and that Serbia has entered this process to ensure collective and individual rights for the Serbian people through that association, as envisioned in the Brussels Agreement and other agreements.

He has stressed that association is Belgrade's key condition for continuing the process of normalising relations with Kosovo, and that, under the Ohrid Agreement, its formation is the first obligation for Kosovo.

On April 19th 2013, Serbia's then prime minister, Ivica Dacic, and then Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci signed the first “Parliament Agreement regulating the normalisation of relations” between Kosovo and Serbia, otherwise known as the Brussels Agreement.

The agreement, which has 15 points, envisions the formation of an association of Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo, and the integration of police and judiciary from northern Kosovo to the institutional framework of Kosovo. /rel/