Serbia's Tadic ready to meet Thaci to talk Kosovo solution

(JAHORINA) - Serbian President Boris Tadic said Friday he was ready to meet Kosovo prime minister Hashim Thaci if he would agree to discuss Belgrade's "plan" for the breakaway territory.

Speaking after a meeting in Jahorina with the presidents of Bosnia and Croatia, Tadic said he was "interested in taking part in the talks that can lead to a solution" for Kosovo.

Belgrade has refused to recognise their 2008 unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia.

Asked if he was ready to meet Tadic, he responded: "If there is a reaction and readiness to discuss a plan I have presented, or some other plan which I see as positive, of course, always."

Tadic has recently hinted he has prepared a "plan" for Kosovo.

It proposes notably a "special solution for northern Kosovo," a tense region populated mostly by the minority Serbs, who have rejected the independence proclaimed by majority ethnic Albanain leadership in Pristina.

His plan also tackles the status of Serbian Orthodox Church medieval monasteries in Kosovo, Serb state and citizens' property there.

And it offers additional guarantees for the Serbs living in enclaves mostly in southern part of the territory.

However, the plan was rejected by Thaci's government.

Thaci himself told Radio Free Europe Friday that he was in favour "of meetings between political leaders legally elected by their countries."

"A direct communication between Kosovo and Serb leaders is in the interest of both states," he said.

Pristina's 2008 declaration of independence has been accepted by most of the European Union and many other countries including the United States.

But Belgrade and Kosovo Serbs still consider Kosovo to be a province of Serbia and the cradle of its nation and religion.

Since last March however, Serbia has been engaged in EU-sponsored talks with Pristina. Several agreements aimed at improving the lives of all inhabitants of Kosovo have been reached so far.

Progress in the dialogue is a key condition for Belgrade to become a candidate to join the EU.