Kosovaarse premier Thaci wil verwijdering Servische troepenmacht (en)

BRUSSELS - Kosovo leader Hashim Thaci has said Serbia should stop talking about autonomy for north Kosovo and pull out its paramilitary forces instead.

Speaking to EUobserver in Brussels on Thursday (17 January) ahead of a dinner with Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and EU foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton, he said: "The 'platform' of Serbia doesn't have any value."

Last week Serbia adopted a national "platform" on what to do about ethnic Serbs in north Kosovo - the biggest problem standing in the way of better ties with both Pristina and Brussels.

On one hand, the platform implicitly recognises that Serbia has no authority in Kosovo. But on the other hand, it says ethnic Serb enclaves should have their own police force and courts, while Serbian Orthodox churches in Kosovo should have Vatican-type status.

Thaci noted: "Tonight in the meeting ... there are two issues, the first one is that Prime Minister Dacic should take responsibility for removing all the parallel security structures in that part of the country, and these are forces of the ministry of interior affairs of Serbia which are keeping people there under their control."

He added: "The second is my responsibility to guarantee the integration of the Serbs in the north."

The EU-mediated dialogue is designed to improve day-to-day relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

The current round comes amid Serbia's bid to get EU countries' approval to quickly start accession talks with the Union.

For their part, EU foreign ministers recently said Kosovo should have a "single" administration. But they also said Kosovo should respect the "particular needs" of ethnic Serbs.

Thaci told this website he will create a "development fund" to improve education, healthcare and social services in north Kosovo.

He also said: "I will respect the formation of an association of [ethnic Serb] municipalities that would contribute to people who live there feeling good about themselves."

With north Kosovo currently a no-go area for Kosovar Albanian police and with the EU police mission, Eulex, also keeping its operations in the volatile zone to a minimum, Thaci said Eulex should do more to enforce Kosovo's territorial integrity.

"We cannot be satisfied with what Eulex has done in north Kosovo ... one of its priorities should be its presence in the north," he noted.

In July 2011, Thaci sent special police units to seize customs posts on the region's border with Serbia, prompting clashes in which a sniper shot dead a Kosovar Albanian policeman.

He ruled out using "violence" to bring the north under his control.

But he credited the 2011 operation with establishing joint EU and Kosovar supervision of the border posts. "I want to be very clear on something - without the intervention of the 25th of July 2011, we would not have had this switch," he said.

He also touched upon the most sensitive question on Serbia's EU bid - whether it can ever join the Union without first recognising Kosovo independence.

"I am convinced Serbia will not enter the EU without first establishing European-type relations with Kosovo. It will not have a European future without first establishing good neighbourly relations with Kosovo and without reciprocal recognition," Thaci said.