Djuric: Belgrade committed to dialogue, to insist on implementation of agreements

BELGRADE - At a meeting with German Ambassador to Belgrade Anke Konrad, Serbian FM Marko Djuric said Belgrade was fully committed to dialogue with Pristina but would continue to insist on implementation of agreements reached to date.

Djuric said Pristina PM Albin Kurti's policy had led to gross violations of the human rights of Serbs and to daily intimidation of the Serb population, and added that the fundamental objective of the policy was an ethnic cleansing of Serbs from the territory of Serbia's southern province.

He also said full EU membership was a strategic commitment and a foreign policy priority for Serbia, and expressed the hope Germany and other EU member states would acknowledge Serbia's efforts on that path.

He said he expected Cluster 3 in Serbia's EU accession talks to be opened soon to lend an additional impetus to continuing the reforms necessary for further alignment with European standards, the Serbian MFA said in a statement.

He said Serbia and Germany maintained highly-developed relations in all areas but that there were always opportunities to strengthen the cooperation further, especially in the economy.