The authorities in Pristina called on EU member states not to grant Serbia the EU candidate status, since the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue has not yielded real progress, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said on Sunday evening.

In a letter addressed to the EU member states, Pristina blames Serbia for the dialogue's failure, Dacic said in a statement for the Belgrade-based TV B92.

The letter underlines that only limited progress has been achieved in the dialogue, and adds that there is no true dialogue on open issues, Dacic said.

“In relation to that, Kosovo urged the EU and its member states to take this into account, particularly when delivering a decision as to whether to grant Serbia the EU candidate status at the end of February this year,” Dacic said.

According to him, the Serbian government has to condemn this move by Pristina, since in this way “Serbia is being put in an unequal position.”

“The letter and the demand therein clearly showed that for the Kosovo authorities, the dialogue is just an opportunity for imposing pressure on Belgrade and that they do no want a compromise.”

"Serbia has been placed in the situation that practically its candidate status depends on whether Pristina will agree to some things which are happening in the dialogue or not," Dacic emphasized.