Petkovic: No Headway in Latest Round of Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue

Petar Petkovic(BETAPHOTO/ARMENIJA ZAJMI BESEVIC/MO)

Petar Petkovic, director of the Serbian government's Office for Kosovo and Metohija, has said that no agreements were reached and no headway made at the latest, May 15 round of the dialogue with Pristina, and that the other side claimed to have no knowledge of the Community of Serb Municipalities.

Petkovic told reporters in Brussels that the talks had not been easy and called the behavior of Pristina's chief negotiator Besnik Bislimi "scandalous," stating that he arrived unprepared and refused to discuss any subject.

"Bislimi arrived alone, with no papers, and when we were due to discuss further implementation in forming the [Community of Serb Municipalities], or the issue of missing persons, freedom of movement or other important issues, like institutional violence, Bislimi would give no concrete answers and tried to undercut the dialogue with interjections," Petkovic said.

According to Petkovic, Bislimi would not discuss energy, threw to the floor evidence that a reporter for the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation had been denied entry to Kosovo, said citing the U.N. Charter was "talking nonsense," and merely wanted to simulate a discussion which never really happened.

The round of the dialogue began with separate bilateral meetings between European Union special representative to the Belgrade-Pristina dialog Miroslav Lajcak and the two sides' representatives.