Head of the Serbian government’s team for dialogue with Pristina Borislav Stefanovic stated yesterday that Friday's agreement made between Belgrade and Pristina in Brussels is fully in accordance with the Constitution and national interests of Serbia.

Stefanovic underlined at a press conference that with this agreement Serbia did not recognise the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo-Metohija, nor will ever do.

He explained that this agreement protects Serbia’s sovereignty, and UN Security Council Resolution 1244 got international reaffirmation once more and its position on the international scene has been reinforced.

He said that Serbia reached the best possible agreement at the moment, which allowed for asymmetric representation of Pristina in regional organisations, with reference to Resolution 1244.

In international initiatives Pristina will be represented without prejudging the elements of statehood, which will not be present either in a symbolic or essential sense.

He explained that in the regional representation, beyond the inscription “Kosovo” there will be an asterisk and the footnote will read "This name does not prejudge the status of Kosovo and is in line with UN Resolution 1244 and the decision of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo's declaration of independence".

Stefanovic said that Serbia was never against representation of Pristina in regional organisations and its voice being heard, but it needed to be through certain international legal definition.

Stefanovic highlighted that the opinions that are heard in Washington and Pristina that this agreement will encourage new recognitions of Kosovo’s independence are not correct.

Stefanovic underlined that the opinion of the International Court of Justice, contained in the footnote, confirmed that the Declaration on Kosovo’s Independence is not in contradiction with international law, but did not confirm that Kosovo Albanians had the right to secession, or that they could achieve that through a declaration.

He reiterated that the Serbian delegation is ready to continue with dialogue as soon as possible and the next topics to be discussed are the return of displaced persons and their property, the issue of the missing persons, as well as electricity and Telekom.

Stefanovic explained that the technical protocol on implementation of the agreement on integrated management of crossings, adopted in the last round of dialogue, clearly defines the particularity of Brnjak and Jarinje crossings and the executive role of EULEX at these crossings.

The technical protocol defines the functioning of the crossings, the work of the groups for its implementation as well as the dynamics of its implementation.

This protocol will be signed between Belgrade and Brussels on one side and Pristina and Brussels on the other, and after that it will be sent to the Serbian government and the Serbian parliament’s Committee for Kosovo-Metohija, Stefanovic explained.

The Head of the Serbian government’s team for dialogue with Pristina explained that the protocol confirms the presence of EULEX and it clearly defines northern crossings as specific.

For us it is most important that EULEX continues with its function and presence at Jarinje and Brnjak, and Albanian customs officers will be there in the form of customs witnesses, he explained.

Stefanovic highlighted that Pristina’s attempt to turn this agreement into a process of establishment of state border was avoided.