Đurić: Community of Serbian Municipalities holds executive powers and is directly linked to Serbia

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Đurić said that the Community of Serbian Municipalities would have specific executive powers and that its employees will hold the status of civil servants, which means that the CSM is a public institution, and that it would be directly funded by Serbia and exempt from all taxes, customs duties and fees paid to institutions in Priština.

"The chant reiterated by the Albanian politicians, that the CSM will be nothing more than a non-governmental organization – has crumbled to pieces when confronted with the hard text agreed between our and the provincial prime ministers," Đurić said at a press conference.

He underlined that the CSM, as the foundation of survival of the Serbian people in Kosovo-Metohija, became politically and formally founded pursuant to the agreement reached in Brussels yesterday.

Employees of the CSM will hold the status of civil servants and this has been written in the principles of the agreement and it means that "the CSM is officially a public institution".

"It lays down competences – the CSM will have political bodies typical for autonomous units, the Assembly, which will issue political decisions and independently decide on the content of the Statute that will be adopted solely by the Assembly," Đurić said.

Đurić repeated that the CSM will independently decide on the content of the Statute, while the guarantees for its "validity will be provided by the government in Priština, which will adopt specific decree for this purpose to be then confirmed by the Constitutional Court."

He stressed that the CSM has something that no institution has had over the last 15 years - direct institutional links with Serbia.

"The CSM, and we also have that in writing, will be directly financed by the Republic of Serbia, and we intend to open the door to international donations, since there is already interest for that," Đurić said.

The CSM will, he added, also have a Board, as the executive body of the Community, which will implement the decisions of the Community which are adopted by the Assembly, and the decisions will be enforceable and binding for the citizens in the territory of the Community.

"The board will be supported by a strong administration, made up of people who have the status of civil servants," Đurić said.

He added that the CSM will be economically independent, exempt from taxes, customs duties and any other fees collected by the institutions in Priština.

"That speaks more about its autonomous character and its substantive institutional position within our and provincial system," said Đurić.

When asked how Serbia would finance the CSM, Đurić replied - "most directly" and specified that the financing will be conducted through the institutions and directly from the Serbian budget.

The CSM, he added, will own movable and immovable property and will be able to establish companies, that being "the essential trump card in our future negotiations on the issue of assets."

When asked about the meaning of the last point of the agreement, which states that functioning of the CSM will be reviewed in one year, in accordance with Article 5 of the Brussels agreement, Đurić said that said article provides for the institutions in Priština to devolve additional competencies to the Community.

"This point of the agreement serves the purpose of political consolidation of the Community in the future," said Đurić.

Serbs will, he said, be in a position to fully decide on their own destiny for the first time, and not one job will be lost, if nothing the possibility for employing new people will increase.

"All those who so far have worked in the health care and education in our system, will continue to work in this system. All the goals of the CSM are directed to the survival of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija and the President of the CSM will have the function of representing the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija, both in and outside of the Province," Đurić said, adding that the president of the CSM will be able to "reach all areas where the Serbian people are in majority."

Đurić repeated that the CSM seeks to consolidate and empower our people in Kosovo and Metohija, and not to limit, burden or undermine anyone's position, adding that: "They have no reason to be dissatisfied or afraid of a strong Community that has been agreed".

"As of yesterday, the CSM is an unchangeable category. With this Community we have a framework from which there will be no deviation. Politicians in the Province may change, but the framework remains and it will not be changed," said Đurić.

He expressed gratitude to the municipality of Gora which, as he said, was the first to welcome the closure of agreements on the CSM.

Power supply and power switch remain in our hands

The energy system in northern Kosovo and Metohija has remained in our hands, as has the power switch, said Đurić and stressed that it is a great victory for Serbia.

Serbia and the Serbian Power Company (EPS) will continue to supply and distribute electricity to the residents of northern Kosovo and Metohija through its subsidiaries, Đurić said at the press conference on the occasion of the agreements reached in Brussels.

He added that the agreement on energy was the one he feared the most, given its economic and political consequences, but pointed out that the energy system in northern Kosovo and Metohija remained in our hands, which is a great victory for Serbia.

Đurić said that everything should be done for EPS subsidiaries to become economically viable, and to improve billing for electricity in the north of Kosovo and Metohija.

"Power supply and power switch will be in our hands and that is a great victory for Serbia," said Đurić.

The agreement does not prejudice the status of property, Đurić said, responding to a reporter's question about the status of the substation Valač and hydroelectric power plant and reservoir Gazivode.

We managed to avoid the trap of Priština and protect our property, Đurić said, adding that "our assets are our own and it will remain so in the future."

We were able to ensure two things, the establishment of EPS subsidiary in the north of Kosovo and Metohija and for that company to supply the residents of northern Kosovo and Metohija with electricity, he said and explained that the issue of distribution system operators was left for subsequent discussions.

The issue of property and distribution system operators is defined as we proposed, said Đurić and added that concerning the status of property, there is a sentence in which they (Priština) argue that "everything belongs to them and a sentence which states that those assets are the property of Serbia ".

On the agreement, the Ibar, accession chapters, Ivanović, congratulations

Marko Đurić repeated that we scored 5:0 in Brussels the previous day, explaining that he referred to the four signed agreements, but also the fact that the agreements have opened the door to the beginning of accession chapters negotiation and to fast-track European integration of Serbia.

"By these agreements we have ensured that Serbia can count on support in the opening of the chapters," Đurić said at the press conference, adding that we have removed a major issue that stood in the way of our integration into the EU.

He recalled that some important countries called for a solid step forward in the talks and said that we have achieved just that.

He also said that Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić has received numerous congratulations from the EU leaders on the significant agreements reached and reiterated that from that we can deduce acceleration of Serbia's EU integration.

Speaking about the agreement on telecommunications, Đurić said that Kosovo will be denoted by an asterisk and a footnote, while the dialling code would be registered as a geographical area within Serbia.

The Serbian company will have an unrestricted licence for operation and there will be no pretexts for cutting cables and leaving entire enclaves without access to mobile telephony.

Đurić also added that part of the digital spectrum will belong to Serbian media and that the central state TV, as well as all other media, will be allowed to broadcast without signal interference and other obstacles.

He also said that the agreement on the bridge over the Ibar represents a success in the fight for demarcation between southern and northern Kosovska Mitrovica, and that it provides that there will be no more attempts of intrusion and ethnic conquest of the territory as in case of the Brđani town block.

We managed to ensure a solution that guarantees that there would be "no occupation of northern Kosovska Mitrovica", stated Đurić and added that Kralja Petra Street is to be transformed into a pedestrian zone, so that Kosovska Mitrovica is protected under the agreement.

Asked whether Prime Minister Vučić discussed "the case of Oliver Ivanović" with EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, Đurić said that it was made clear that Ivanović can not be a political hostage and that there are no grounds for his detention.

He added that in the coming period, the Government of Serbia will exert continuous pressure for Ivanović to be released.

Đurić said that the comments heard in Pristina are nothing more than repeating phrases that Kosovo is independent.

"Whoever loses has a right to be angry," concluded Đurić.