Serbian Parliament Speaker Slavica Djukic Dejanovic stated on Monday that when adopting a decision on calling local elections in Kosovo-Metohija (KiM), relevant bodies need take into consideration the Serbian Constitution, laws and UNSC Resolution 1244, as well as the situation in the field and the results reached in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue so far.

The individuals bearing the greatest responsibility, that is citizens' representatives and political leaders, will certainly have to adopt the decision on the basis of these points, Djukic Dejanovic told Tanjug and added that for the time being, she is not familiar with the nature of the decision.

When asked whether the stand of the international community would have the key influence over the decision and whether calling the elections in KiM can affect the decision on Serbia's EU candidate status which is due in March, Djukic Dejanovic replied that although there is no conditioning, these matters are interlinked.

The more issues are resolved in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, including the issue of institutions in northern Kosovo and the position of Serbs in enclaves, protection of Serbian heritage and monasteries, the easier it would be for the international community to assess what the country has done in terms of their criteria, the parliament speaker said.

According to the laws and the Constitution, KiM is an integral part of Serbia but this is only one aspect when it comes to calling the elections, because the situation in the field is delicate and local elections cannot be realised easily, Djukic Dejanovic said and added that this is why a political estimate and an agreement on calling local elections in Kosovo are very important.

In addition to this, according to Resolution 1244, the international mission needs to give its consent for calling local elections. A part of the opposition and Kosovo Serbs are calling on Belgrade to organise elections on all government levels and in the entire territory of KiM.

Serbian Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Goran Bogdanovic stated that the government has not discussed the matter of whether the parliamentary elections would be held in the territory of Kosovo as well.