Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic told the Voice of America in New York that he does not believe that Washington will succeed in pressuring Pristina to revoke the 100 percent tariffs on goods from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Dacic said that Kosovo’s top officials – President Hashim Thaci and Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj – are playing different roles in the talks without any clear indication of who is on whose side. “One is obviously playing the good cop and the other a bad cop. The question is who is whose cop. That is why I said I respect the fact that the US is pressuring Pristina but I don’t believe that will succeed,” he said.  

The foreign minister said Belgrade will not take any new steps, adding that it is in Serbia’s interest to find a solution as soon as possible even though that is becoming difficult at present amid heightened tension between Belgrade and Pristina. “The dialogue has been blocked and we can’t count on the tariffs being revoked to get it started again. There are also the decisions on the military, on Trepca, everything that Haradinaj is saying now and I think we have to discuss everything in the UN Security Council,” he said.  

Speaking earlier at a meeting of the international coalition combatting the Islamic State organization Dacic warned that the international community did not realize on time that the region that the Western Balkans region is a base for the recruiting of terrorists. “In terms of population numbers, Kosovo has the highest percentage of combatants in the ranks of Daesh (the Islamic State),” he is quoted as saying in a foreign ministry press release. Dacic warned that those combatants could return to the region, bringing terrorist activities.

Success in combatting terrorism depends on cooperation between states, security structures, the police and security services and Serbia is prepared to contribute actively.