Pristina's "platform" could spell end of talks - report

In the platform on what they called "the final phase of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue" Pristina authorities state that the dialogue's goal is Kosovo's membership in the UN and "mutual recognition."

Dacic, however, points out that the dialogue has been "status-neutral from the outset", and that Kosovo's status cannot be "defined in advance," RTS reported over the weekend.

"They can adopt what they want, it's a paper for internal use, they can hang it at the entrance to the Kosovo government in Pristina as a daily newsletter. This paper has no relevance and we've known what they want from the very beginning, and that's exactly what we're talking about," said Dacic.

Commenting on the same topic earlier on Saturday, Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric said that this was primarily a matter for mediators in the dialogue, and asked "how one can negotiate if the outcome of the negotiations is determined in advance."

Answering journalists' questions, Djuric said that Pristina's attitude was not surprising and that he "did not expect more from politicians who use such such tricks", asking whether they "really thought negotiations can be held if the outcome is determined in advance."

Belgrade-based daily Vecernje Novosti writes that if the Assembly in Pristina adopts the platform of the government, which envisages the Belgrade-Pristina talks to end in "mutual recognition" and mentions a chair in the UN for the latter, "our side will treat it as a unilateral cessation of the dialogue and will no longer sit at the table."

As the newspaper writes, referring to its sources, "Belgrade does not want to enter deeper into the trap under which a UN chair for a fake state hides under the guise of...