Belgrade Demands Self Rule for Kosovo Serbs

Serbian authorities demand a high level of territorial and political autonomy for Serbian municipalities there, the platform on which the country's officials agreed on Sunday reads.

These include Strpce and Gracanica in central and southern Kosovo, and Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zubin Potok and Zvecan in the north.

According to the document, Belgrade wants their autonomy guaranteed by Kosovo's own highest laws and the international community.

Northern Kosovo, which borders Serbia, is almost entirely comprised of Serbs and the authorities there do not recognise Kosovo's independence or the government in Pristina.

The area remains under the day-to-day control of so-called parallel institutions, funded by Belgrade, including town councils, health authorities, post offices and schools.

The platform also asks that smaller Serbian enclaves, such as villages, be granted the status of municipalities and special status.

Serbian authorities stressed in the document that a starting point for negotiations with Pristina is that Serbia cannot recognise the independence of Kosovo, proclaimed in 2008.

“The Republic of Serbia does not and will never recognize Kosovo’s unilaterally declared independence,” it says.

The autonomous Serbian municipalities should, according to the document, have exclusive competences in the field of education, healthcare, judiciary, internal affairs, sport, culture, media, environmental protection, urban planning, agriculture, forestry, mining, energy, telecommunications, trade, economic and fiscal policies, and finance.

It is also demanded that an "Autonomous Community of Serbian Municipalities in Kosovo" be guaranteed direct cooperation with the Belgrade authorities, including additional financing from the Serbian budget.

The Autonomous Serbian Community will independently decide on the choice and use of its symbols, the document says.

Belgrade also demands that special ties between the Serbian Orthodox Church, SPC, and the Pristina authorities be established, as well as international guarantees concerning issues of Church assets and activities in Kosovo.

Serbia's President, Tomislav Nikolic, presented the platform to foreign ambassadors in Serbia on Wednesday and then to the leaders of Serbian opposition parties on Thursday.