Vucevic: Serbia will not agree to Pristina's attempts to form the CSM beyond the agreed principles

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Milos Vucevic said today in a conversation with the delegation of the United States Senate and Senators Chris Murphy and Gary Peters that Serbia would not agree to the attempts of the Pristina authorities to form the CSM beyond the previously agreed principles.

Vucevic, during the discussion on regional security, pointed to the constant lack of readiness of the representatives of the provisional institutions of self-government in Pristina for talks on the formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities, an obligation that the Pristina had accepted back in 2015, and whose guarantor was the European Union.

He, as stated in the Ministry's announcement, pointed out that by doing so, the Pristina is unilaterally reducing the possibility of establishing a constructive dialogue that would contribute to the final reconciliation in the Western Balkans, the continuation of talks on the normalization of relations and the creation of mutual trust.

On that occasion, Vucevic said that Serbia was carefully following the tragic events in Ukraine and modeled its foreign policy in the spirit of declared military neutrality and fully supported international law when it came to the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

In this way, he adds, Serbia defends its national interests and status in the international community and is firmly determined to remain a promoter of dialogue and a factor of stability in the region.

At the meeting, they discussed the possibilities of achieving a stronger partnership between Serbia and the USA in the field of defense, and the importance of opening opportunities for intensifying further cooperation was highlighted.

Vucevic said that there were clearly indicators showing significant progress in mutual relations in the field of defense.

He also pointed to the variety of areas of common interest in which cooperation was realized, emphasizing the newly established area of joint participation in multinational peace operations.

The members of the US Senate delegation expressed satisfaction with the meeting with the representatives of the Ministry of Defense and expressed the expectation that in the coming period there would be further strengthening of cooperation in the field of defense between the two countries.

They agreed that the formation of the CSM was an obligation that the Pristina had undertaken and it was necessary to fulfill it.