Vucic, Thaci Talk in Washington

Vucic in Washington (President's office/Dimitrije Goll)

President Aleksandar Vucic said in Washington late in the evening on March 2, that he had had an usual meeting with Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, adding that Belgrade was expecting to see the removal of tariffs on the goods coming from Serbia to enable the resumption of the dialogue on fundamental issue with Pristina.

After the meeting with Thaci, also attended by Richard Grenell, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and Trump’s National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, Vucic told reporters he had said at the meeting that there was no agreement requiring Serbia to discontinue its campaign with countries to derecognize Kosovo’s independence.

“I said that we had no such agreement and then I was listening to other sides speaking how it was important, after which I said that throughout the dialogue in Brussels I had been asking the Kosovo Albanians one thing: not to apply for a membership in international organizations and institutions, not to seek additional recognitions and a membership in Interpol, UNESCO and other international organization during the dialogue,” Vucic.

He further said that Belgrade had offered a temporary halt of its derecognition campaign, but Kosovo “has never wished an agreement on this matter.”

Thaci described the meeting with Vucic in the White House as fair, constructive and “without anything special.” Thaci said that the meeting discussed “the necessity of reaching a peaceful solution to the issues between Kosovo and Serbia and the possibilities for reaching a final agreement.”