Head of Serbia's negotiation team Borislav Stefanovic said on Wednesday that the goal of the Belgrade-Pristina talks is not and will not be the recognition of Kosovo and Metohija.

Answering the questions of Serbian Radical Party (SRS) MPs regarding the talks so far between Belgrade and Pristina, Stefanovic said that Serbia's negotiation team fully abides by the Serbian Constitution and the parliament's resolutions, which clearly state that Kosovo and Metohija is an integral part of Serbia.

"It has to be made clear that we do not want to, that we cannot and that we do not wish to recognise (Kosovo's) independence, and that this is not the goal of the negotiations. The negotiations are aimed at resolving the problems of the people there," Stefanovic stressed, underlining that neither the Serbian government, nor the negotiation team have the intention of crossing that line.

He added that Serbia views the talks as a process in which solutions should be sought for concrete issues, all of which, in some way or other, also include the issue of status that Belgrade and Pristina have diametrically opposed stands on.

"For us, the issue of status is quite clear - Kosovo and Metohija is a part of Serbia," Stefanovic said, and added that Serbia's citizens in Kosovo have many problems which they want Serbia to help them resolve and thus make their life easier.

Stefanovic also noted that the Serbian side is willing to discuss all issues, which does not mean that it is ready to violate the Serbian Constitution in doing that.

The SRS MPs criticised Serbian President Boris Tadic for not being present at the session, underlining that he is the most competent person to answer the question why Serbia decided to negotiate with Pristina in the first place and why it gave up on the issue of status, thus entering the slippery road towards recognising the illegitimate independence of Kosovo.