BEOGRAD, 12/18/2013 (Tanjug) - The adoption of the framework for the talks and the conclusion of the ministerial council of the EU that Serbia will definitely start the accession talks in January are a historic event for Serbia, Prime Minister Ivica Dačić said on Tuesday. This is a historic event for Serbia, the day many generations awaited and the political goal of many politicians and governments, he told Radio and Television of Serbia.

    Dačić said he was proud the current government had achieved that goal, adding that it marked the end of a very difficult beginning. "I would like to thank all those in the government and Deputy Prime Minister Vučić and, of course, President of Serbia Tomislav Nikolić on the great work and political responsibility with which we led the country closer to the EU membership than ever before," he noted. It is a historic result of the current government, he stressed.

    There were two fears ahead of the ministerial meeting on Tuesday, because the most recent meeting with Priština had not been very successful, he stated, but also thanked EU High Representative Catherine Ashton on being fair and saying that Priština was to blame for it.

    The other fear referred to the text of the framework for the talks and the possibility of something absolutely unacceptable to Serbia appearing in it, he said. The term "full normalization" was replaced by "comprehensive normalization" in that document, he explained, stressing that the most important thing was that the possibility of all the areas of the negotiations being connected to Kosovo had been erased. None of this would have been achieved had there been no progress in the talks with Priština, he pointed out.