Dacic: West Can No Longer Claim Belgrade, Pristina Equally Responsible for Dialogue Failure

Ivica Dacic(BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV/MO)

On Nov. 23, Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic said that, “thanks foremost to Pristina’s irrational [and] volatile behavior,” the international community is changing its view of the situation in Kosovo and the West can no longer claim that both sides are equally responsible for the failure of negotiations.

“I can’t say that I’m glad of Pristina’s actions, but they are a bit fortunate in that the West can now see who the actual obstructing and destabilizing factor is in the region. So far, they have insisted on a symmetry of blame, but now they can no longer maintain that position,” Dacic told Pink TV in reference to the latest round of talks between Belgrade and Pristina, held in Brussels on Nov. 21.

The fact that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti put a 48-hour moratorium on the decision to fine all local vehicles refusing to replace their documentation issued by Serbia proper with documents issued by Kosovo authorities, Dacic said, illustrates that “pressure does have an effect” on Kurti, and added that it is most important to “preserve the peace and avoid escalation.”