Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Head of Kosovo negotiating team accuses Serbia of obstructing devolution talks

Excerpt from report by Radio-Television Kosovo TV on 7 August

[Announcer] We now have Deputy Prime Minister Lutfi Haziri on the line live from Vienna. How did today's talks go?

[Haziri] We discussed the competencies that municipalities will have in the future and border cooperation. We did not discuss the formation of new municipalities or the new ways of working in reforming local government. Our delegation presented the Kosovar officials' stance on the clear competencies the municipalities will have and these competencies will be the same for all municipalities except Mitrovica. This is a specific case and we will discuss this issue in a future meeting. Our stance is very close to UNOSEK's, there are only a few open issues, while Belgrade's stance is very far removed. The Belgrade government still holds the same stance, but they have camouflaged and changed the form, attempting to hide their entire strategy, one that is unacceptable and has been rejected by our side. Belgrade has to understand that this is not the way to help the process and we understand that they are working to obstruct and delay the process. This way of working has been seen as unacceptable. We have retained the same stance as before and we have clear principles for the reform of local government. They address, and recognize, the aspirations of the ethnic communities, and through legal means help them integrate in an independent Kosova where they will be able to have a good life and be equal to all of us. [Passage omitted]

Source: RTK TV, Pristina, in Albanian 1730 gmt 7 Aug 06

No comments: