First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic, speaking as a guest on the RTS, said that Serbia was not siding with anyone in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh but that the conflicts should stop and all should return to the negotiating table. He said that this could be a fair warning to all in the region how easy it is to revive old conflicts and how important it was to preserve peace and stability in the entire region.

Speaking for the morning news on RTS Ivica Dacic said that Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a long-standing and frozen conflict.

"For more than twenty years foreign negotiators have been engaged in the so-called Minsk Group, which was by many accounts totally unsuccessful and uninterested in getting a solution. They were interested in protracting the conflict to justify their existence. We, of course, call for an end to hostilities and return to peace negotiations as soon as possible. The Minsk Group established twenty years ago was set up for that purpose", Dacic pointed out. He underlined that we are not taking sides and we call for an end to the conflicts and return to the negotiating table.

The Minister stated that both Armenia and Azerbaijan were friendly countries and brotherly nations to us.

"This could be a fair warning to all in the region how easy it is to revive old conflicts and how important it was to preserve peace and stability in the entire region," Dacic said.

As for the dialogue in Brussels supposed to resume yesterday, according to EU special representative for dialogue Miroslav Lajcak they were postponed due to the coronavirus. Dacic said that it was just a pretext for the postponement.
"I think that the true reason as many times before, is the obstruction by Pristina and their constant attempts to impose some topics while failing to implement things that had been signed and agreed in Brussels. If coronavirus is the current reason for the postponement, what was the reason that the establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities has been postponed in the past seven years? How long do they intend to postpone it," Dacic asked.

"What is their idea of a dialogue – you discuss some issues and then what you sign does not matter as though someone else signed it for you. In addition to Thaci and me, Kathrine Ashton also put her signature on the document. The EU has to come forward and say whether her signature is worth or not," Dacic added.

He said that they were "playing the role of a deaf and mute mediator in the talks not having the guts to put their foot down and make the other side implement the agreement".

"Unless they do, Pristina will surely not implement it and they will probably seek to bypass the Washington agreement as well. They signed it only to avoid picking a fight with Americans, hoping and rooting for Biden to win i.e. for Trump to lose the elections so they would not have to implement what they had signed", Dacic said.

He recalled that a month ago Pristina wrote to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and asked that the Specialist Chambers in The Hague be abolished and returned to Pristina.

"This was their explicit demand in Washington – to include a provision abolishing international tribunals. As of late, they have constitutional initiatives to that end i.e. an initiative to amend the constitution and make this unconstitutional", Dacic added.

He explained that the current events and arrests of former KLA members is the reaction of the international community to Pristina's actions.

"The honey moon between Pristina and their sponsors is over and the time has come to pick up the tab. The bill has to be paid by those who made it. It means that those who committed crimes have to answer for it. Therefore, it may be expected that Thaci will soon be arrested which is corroborated by the information coming from The Hague," Dacic said.

The Slovenian Government decided to put Serbia on the green list due to the favorable epidemiological situation. Minister Dacic did not believe that the EU will follow suit.

"This is politics and it has nothing to do with the epidemiological situation. They have a lot of problems of their own. Everyone should have their say in connection with the decision. It is not a binding decision but a recommendation and all countries should decide for themselves. I do not believe that there will be any changes in that respect",
As for relations with Montenegro and new authorities in Podgorica, Dacic said that according to him this was a historic opportunity to normalize the relations.

"All along, they scared the Montenegrin people with threats of hegemony from Belgrade. Has anyone heard calls from Belgrade to abolish Montenegro or change its foreign policy? No. What we are doing is asking them not to conduct anti-Serb campaigns. We are interested only in the rights of Serb people, our people living in Montenegro who did not come from my town of Prokuplje or any part of Serbia to live there but were born there, lived there for centuries and became part of Montenegrin society," Dacic said. He said that Montenegro and its people are closest to us.

"We have the same roots and anyone working against the cooperation with Serbia is working against the interests of its people. That is why I think it is high time, despite the differences in the opposition and various statements, that all of us engaged to overcome the problems that were created primarily by the regime of Milo Djukanovic and his anti-Serb policies", Dacic said in conclusion.

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic, speaking as a guest on the RTS, said that Serbia was not siding with anyone in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh but that the conflicts should stop and all should return to the negotiating table. He said that this could be a fair warning to all in the region how easy it is to revive old conflicts and how important it was to preserve peace and stability in the entire region.

Speaking for the morning news on RTS Ivica Dacic said that Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a long-standing and frozen conflict.

“For more than twenty years foreign negotiators have been engaged in the so-called Minsk Group, which was by many accounts totally unsuccessful and uninterested in getting a solution. They were interested in protracting the conflict to justify their existence. We, of course, call for an end to hostilities and return to peace negotiations as soon as possible. The Minsk Group established twenty years ago was set up for that purpose”, Dacic pointed out. He underlined that we are not taking sides and we call for an end to the conflicts and return to the negotiating table.

The Minister stated that both Armenia and Azerbaijan were friendly countries and brotherly nations to us.

“This could be a fair warning to all in the region how easy it is to revive old conflicts and how important it was to preserve peace and stability in the entire region,” Dacic said.

As for the dialogue in Brussels supposed to resume yesterday, according to EU special representative for dialogue Miroslav Lajcak they were postponed due to the coronavirus. Dacic said that it was just a pretext for the postponement.

“I think that the true reason as many times before, is the obstruction by Pristina and their constant attempts to impose some topics while failing to implement things that had been signed and agreed in Brussels. If coronavirus is the current reason for the postponement, what was the reason that the establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities has been postponed in the past seven years? How long do they intend to postpone it,” Dacic asked.

“What is their idea of a dialogue – you discuss some issues and then what you sign does not matter as though someone else signed it for you. In addition to Thaci and me, Kathrine Ashton also put her signature on the document. The EU has to come forward and say whether her signature is worth or not,” Dacic added.

He said that they were “playing the role of a deaf and mute mediator in the talks not having the guts to put their foot down and make the other side implement the agreement”.

“Unless they do, Pristina will surely not implement it and they will probably seek to bypass the Washington agreement as well. They signed it only to avoid picking a fight with Americans, hoping and rooting for Biden to win i.e. for Trump to lose the elections so they would not have to implement what they had signed”, Dacic said.

He recalled that a month ago Pristina wrote to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and asked that the Specialist Chambers in The Hague be abolished and returned to Pristina.

“This was their explicit demand in Washington – to include a provision abolishing international tribunals. As of late, they have constitutional initiatives to that end i.e. an initiative to amend the constitution and make this unconstitutional”, Dacic added.

He explained that the current events and arrests of former KLA members is the reaction of the international community to Pristina’s actions.

“The honey moon between Pristina and their sponsors is over and the time has come to pick up the tab. The bill has to be paid by those who made it. It means that those who committed crimes have to answer for it. Therefore, it may be expected that Thaci will soon be arrested which is corroborated by the information coming from The Hague,” Dacic said.

The Slovenian Government decided to put Serbia on the green list due to the favorable epidemiological situation. Minister Dacic did not believe that the EU will follow suit.

“This is politics and it has nothing to do with the epidemiological situation. They have a lot of problems of their own. Everyone should have their say in connection with the decision. It is not a binding decision but a recommendation and all countries should decide for themselves. I do not believe that there will be any changes in that respect”,

As for relations with Montenegro and new authorities in Podgorica, Dacic said that according to him this was a historic opportunity to normalize the relations.

“All along, they scared the Montenegrin people with threats of hegemony from Belgrade. Has anyone heard calls from Belgrade to abolish Montenegro or change its foreign policy? No. What we are doing is asking them not to conduct anti-Serb campaigns. We are interested only in the rights of Serb people, our people living in Montenegro who did not come from my town of Prokuplje or any part of Serbia to live there but were born there, lived there for centuries and became part of Montenegrin society,” Dacic said. He said that Montenegro and its people are closest to us.

“We have the same roots and anyone working against the cooperation with Serbia is working against the interests of its people. That is why I think it is high time, despite the differences in the opposition and various statements, that all of us engaged to overcome the problems that were created primarily by the regime of Milo Djukanovic and his anti-Serb policies”, Dacic said in conclusion.