Agreement on judiciary initialed

BRUSSELS - Another round of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina was finished in Brussels early Tuesday morning with the result that an agreement on judiciary was initialed, ensuring participation of Serb judges in trials in north Kosovo, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told reporters.

"The talks were difficult, but I think that we have made the most out of it in the given circumstances," Vucic said after the talks, which started on Monday evening and ended somewhat after 2 a.m.

Vucic underlined that during this round of the dialogue, the Pristina delegation led by Prime Minister Isa Mustafa insisted on disbanding the civil protection in the north and removal of the Peace Park on the bridge between the north and the south of Mitrovica.

"We did not want to discuss this, but we wanted to talks about the Trepca mine complex and the Association of the Serb Municipalities," the prime minister said, adding that the agreement on judiciary was the only one reached.

He said that the proportion between the Albanian and Serb judges in south Mitrovica is 14:11, while the president of the court in north Mitrovica will be a Serb, and underlined that this is a better solution than the one in line with the ethnic structure of the Mitrovica region.

Vucic added that the court will have the same number of Serb and Albanian prosecutors, nine on each side.

The prime minister also said that the Mitrovica court will have branches in Zubin Potok and Leposavic, something Belgrade insisted on.

He pointed out that the talks were difficult and that they were interrupted several times, and he thanked the European foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini for her understanding.

"Catherine Ashton wanted to hear...