Vladisavljević: Agreement on Diplomas as of 4 April

Director of the Office for the Coordination of Negotiations Dragan Vladisavljević said today that the implementation of the Brussels Agreement on Diplomas was to start on 4 April, the Students' Day in Serbia.

Vladisavljević told Tanjug that the beginning of the implementation of the Agreement on Diplomas was agreed with Priština representatives in Brussels a few days ago. The date when this is to take place is 4 April, the Students' Day in the Republic of Serbia.

"It was agreed to implement the agreement on higher education documents and this involves certain procedures, as well as certification facilitation on the part of the European University Association. We submitted a list with 18 universities, including the University of Priština relocated to Kosovska Mitrovica," he said.

Vladisavljević added that the procedure involved the same approach for the universities of Kragujevac and Belgrade, and the University of Priština relocated to Kosovska Mitrovica.

"The moment Priština goes ahead with the procedure of diploma recognition, official Belgrade will continue the process carried out as part of the implementation of the agreement on diplomas," he stated.

Vladisavljević criticised the rhetoric used by the Kosovo Minister for Dialogue Edita Tahiri concerning this agreement and all other agreements, pointing out that such acts do not contribute to the normalisation of relations and proper continuation of the dialogue, which is expected.

Settling the issue of diplomas is crucial, as it mostly concerns the Serbian population in Kosovo to whom diploma recognition is a prerequisite for employment in Kosovo institutions.