Brankovic: Belgrade has nothing to negotiate until the CSM is formed

The High Representative for Foreign Policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, announced that he would invite the leaders of Belgrade and Pristina to Brussels, and Branko Brankovic, former ambassador to the United Nations, says that Belgrade really has nothing to negotiate until it gets the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, Kurir writes.

"First of all, what Josep Borrell is talking about is not a European plan, but a plan of two countries - France and Germany, since no EU forum has discussed it, nor signed that it is a European program. It is therefore much weaker in terms of status than if it was adopted by an international body. On the other hand, we have signed the Brussels Agreement and logically we have the right to fulfill all its parts, considering that we have fulfilled our part a long time ago. So, when all the conditions are fulfilled, then discussion about some kind of additional proposal on that topic will begin," Brankovic points out.

He notes that the Serbian side's insistence on the fulfillment of the Brussels Agreement is a completely legitimate demand as a precondition for discussion on the topic of Kosovo and some additional proposals.

And the former head of diplomacy of the FR Yugoslavia, Vladislav Jovanovic, believes that the formation of the CSM is a condition without the fulfillment of which it is not possible to move forward in the dialogue.

"This is what the Americans are realizing more and more and are working on it more than Brussels. The question remains whether the Western side wants to make the implementation of the CSM a problem, challenge our patience, because there is a counterweight, so to speak - the possibility of Pristina's entry into international organizations, above all the UN. In my opinion, we should certainly not agree to such a thing, and President Vucic himself immediately rejected the idea of going to further talks without the formation of the CSM in the agreed format. That is why the question is how to continue negotiations if their goals have already been set, but it's always better to talk than not," Jovanovic stated.