Decision on Serb participation in Kosovo govt next week

BELGRADE - The decision on Serb participation in Kosovo's institutions will be made next week, after the meeting in Brussels from February 9 to 10, head of the Serbian government office for Kosovo Marko Djuric stated on Thursday.

After a meeting between officials of the list Srpska with Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade, Djuric told reporters that all future decisions would be made unanimously and in the interest of the Serbs.

The removal of Serb minister in the Kosovo government Aleksandar Jablanovic was unilateral, which makes the resumption of the dialogue in Brussels on the normalisation of the relations between Belgrade and Pristina more difficult, he stated.

The Serbian government and all Serb representatives in Kosovo's institutions think Jablanovic has done nothing wrong and do not accept responsibility for the increase in tension in Kosovo, he stressed.

Kosovo's Prime Minister Isa Mustafa removed on February 3 Minister for Return and Communities Aleksandar Jablanovic. This decision was made after days of protests in Kosovo, of which the final two were violent.

One of the demands at the protests organised by the ethnic Albanian movement Self Determination was Jablanovic's resignation.

"This move by Mustafa and Hasim Taci makes the atmosphere ahead of the next round of talks (in Brussels) worse," Djuric said.

"We will not agree to a policy run by a mob and protesters, who want to shape the life and composition of the (Kosovo) government. We will not accept humiliation of the Serb community caused by the fact that a street movement decides who is going to represent Serbs in Kosovo's institutions, he noted.

Jablanovic's statement, which was the cause for his removal, should not...