“Normalization of relations with Kosovo, but no recognition as a sovereign state” is the motto in Belgrade, despite an agreement in principle signed between Serbia and Kosovo this weekend. Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić also underlined this during his visit to Vienna. He also drew his government’s red lines on the issue of sanctions against Russia.
The former head of government recalled that ten years ago he himself negotiated through EU mediation on the formation of a community of Serbian communities in Kosovo. Now this should be done. “As long as that does not happen, we cannot talk about further implementation steps (of the normalization agreement, ed.)”, the socialist politician emphasized. In response to a similar question from the APA, he clarified that it concerned not only the four Serb communities in the north of Kosovo, but also six other communities in the rest of the country.
Dačić reaffirmed Belgrade’s will to implement the EU-brokered plan down to its own “red lines”. As such, he specifically mentioned an explicit recognition of Kosovo and the approval of its UN membership. Serbia has still not reached an agreement with the unilateral declaration of independence of the ex-province, inhabited almost exclusively by Albanians, in 2008. It counts on the support of the UN’s veto power, Russia, which in recent years has suppressed all attempts to international recognition of Kosovo.
“Serbia should have been a member of the EU a long time ago”
When asked by the APA whether Serbia would accept EU membership for Kosovo, Dačić replied evasively. “No one asks us. This question is not for us,” he said, referring to the existing EU member states. At the same time, he stated that Serbia actually “long overdue to be a member of the European Union” and justified it with the non-aligned status of the former Yugoslavia.
Unlike other Eastern European states that are now EU members, Yugoslavia broke with the Soviet Union as early as 1948 and later supported the states harassed by Moscow, such as Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland. .
“National interests” are penalized
However, Western sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine are still not supported by Belgrade. The foreign minister justified this with “national interests” of Serbia. At the same time, Dačić tried to downplay the importance of the sanctions. For example, the volume of trade between Switzerland and Russia has increased, although the former supports the sanctions. Schallenberg had previously repeated the call for Belgrade to join the EU sanctions. “Anyone who wants to join the European Union cannot remain on the sidelines when it comes to foreign policy on such an important subject,” he stressed.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
