Kosovo dialogue "not right place to discuss Ukraine"

Kosovo dialogue "not right place to discuss Ukraine"

BELGRADE -- Milovan Drecun says he "does not believe that the EU will take advantage of today's round of the Kosovo dialogue to influence Serbia about Ukraine."

Drecun, who chairs the parliamentary committee on Kosovo and is an official of the SNS party, told B92 TV on Monday that the EU "so far has had and still has plenty of other channels to transmit its views on Ukraine to Serbia - so the meeting of our team with (Catherine) Ashton should not serve for that."

"On the other hand, the EU has so far sent a message to Serbia that it understands our specific relationship with Russia, primarily due to the support of Moscow in the UN Security Council in all matters relating to non-recognition of Kosovo's independence," said Drecun.

Speaking about the new round of the dialogue between Belgrade and Priština and what the Serbian negotiating team was expecting, Drecun said the negotiations would focus "on several important questions:

"According to the announcement of our team, these are justice, the formation of the community of Serb municipalities, and the new electoral law in Kosovo. I expect that Ashton will propose the dynamic of future negotiations."

According to him, it is precisely this "dynamic" that is important because "very important issues that are yet to be opened are coming up on the agenda," such as property in Kosovo of Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church, but also "one on which Serbia is constantly insisting, and that is the return of displaced persons."

Asked whether the judiciary was the toughest point that is being negotiated, and why, Drecun said "the problem is that Priština believes that a regulated legal system...