Greeting National Assembly Speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic and congratulating him on being elected, Bjorn von Sydow stressed that the purpose of his visit to Belgrade and meeting with Serbian dignitaries is to hear their opinion on the current situation in Kosovo-Metohija, before the finalization of the report he is to submit to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in January next year.

Von Sydow said that in his previous report he emphasised the standards which should improve the living conditions of all the citizens of Kosovo, without getting into the issue of the Province’s status. Noting that talks between Serbia and Pristina at the highest level are currently underway, he stated that his new report should focus on a strategy which would enable the observance of European Conventions by introducing Council of Europe monitoring, with programmes which would considerably improve the situation in Kosovo-Metohija.

In addition to the two Conventions monitored by the Council of Europe according to the recommendations from von Sydow’s previous report, the rapporteur briefed Speaker Stefanovic on his plan to expand the Monitoring process on other standards primarily related to human rights and the rule of law, stressing that relevant Kosovo institutions should be included in the process.

The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Nebojsa Stefanovic, stressed that status neutrality of all international factors, including the Council of Europe, is important for the processes which should lead to a normalization of the situation in Kosovo-Metohija. Stefanovic added that Serbia would support the Council of Europe in the programmes supporting the rule of law, ethnic equality and adoption of standards and common European values, as long as these processes do not deviate from status neutrality, stressing that direct cooperation between the Council of Europe and Pristina institutions would be contrary to the Council of Europe Resolution 1739 which says that the dialogue with representatives of the political forces elected to the Kosovo Assembly must take into account the legitimate interests and concerns of Serbia, as well as the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244.

The NARS Speaker then said that Serbia would not recognise the independence of Kosovo, nor close its institutions in the north of the Province, but will make their funding transparent and invite the institutions of the European Union to fully review them.

Stefanovic said that closing the institutions due to Pristina’s inability to offer basic living conditions to the citizens of northern Kosovo would mean their exile which would result in an ethnically clean territory. The issue of church, state and private property in Kosovo-Metohija is also, in addition to the constant endangerment of the safety of Serbs, a significant problem which is yet to be resolved, said Stefanovic, adding that the upcoming negotiations should take place peacefully, without threats to the lives and property of the local Serbian populace. Illustrating the current situation in Kosovo-Metohija, Stefanovic said that 40,000 Serbs in Kosovo Pomoravlje have for some time now been waiting for Kosovo license plates even though they have paid for them, but, unlike Albanians, they have not received them. Commenting rapporteur von Sydow’s clues on what the new report on Kosovo would be like, Stefanovic drew attention to the report of the European Union Court of Auditors on Kosovo-Metohija especially the segments of the report dealing with the real situation in the field, suggesting that they should also be presented before the Council of Europe.

The officials noted that Serbia is a partner in the monitoring process of standards in Kosovo, within the Council of Europe.