New round of Belgrade-Pristina talks begins

BRUSSELS - A new round of talks between Belgrade and Pristina, facilitated by European foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, commenced in Brussels Wednesday.

Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for Ashton, said the European foreign policy chief is currently having a joint meeting with Serbian Prime minister Ivica Dacic and Kosovo Prime Minister Hasim Taci.

Kocijancic said that separate bilateral meetings should be held later in the day.

Also in Belgrade's delegation is First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.

The main topic of the Wednesday round of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue covers open issues concerning the implementation of the Brussels agreement, including the issue of the judiciary, Kocijancic stated and expressed the expectation that an agreement on the matter would be reached soon.

You know our stand - the April agreement should be implemented as soon as possible and all our efforts should be invested to this end, Kocijancic told reporters in Brussels and added that the same applies to the issue of the judiciary.

When asked about the continuation of the dialogue since Serbia is about to stage early elections, Kocijancic said that the prime ministers confirmed at the previous meeting that they are committed to continuation of the talks.

According to her, the participants of the meeting may also discuss issues such as the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina as Ashton discussed this matter with EU ministers of foreign affairs and foreign ministers of candidate countries on Monday.

Dacic said earlier that the talks will focus on judiciary, picking up from they left off in the previous round.

"We came out with our compromise proposals and I do not know what else we...