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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

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Diplomatic fight against Kosovo’s admission to UNESCO

Belgrade, 8 October 2015

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic stated that a tough struggle is ahead of Belgrade in the Executive Board and General Assembly of UNESCO so that members would not vote for the admission of Kosovo in this organisation.

Author: RTS

Dacic said yesterday in a statement to Radio Television Serbia (RTS) that it will be known by 12 October whether the admission of Kosovo will be put on the agenda of the Executive Board, whereas by 21 October it will be known whether it will get a majority in this body, where out of 58 members 32 recognised the independence of Kosovo.

A great fight is ahead of us because Western countries are exerting great pressure on the countries that have not recognised Kosovo not to vote against its admission to UNESCO, he reiterated and explained that during the vote abstentions are not counted, but only for and against, and a simply majority of those is taken as final.

According to Dacic, if Kosovo receives a simple majority in the Executive Board, it will have to obtain a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly of UNESCO, where there is no right to veto, and the abstentions are not counted.

Serbia, as he pointed out, is now leading a diplomatic struggle to persuade members of the Executive Board and the General Assembly of UNESCO to vote against the admission of Kosovo into this organisation because it would be a serious blow to our country.

This is a difficult question for the Serbian state as it relates to the identity and essence of existence of our people. This is about the Serbian Patriarchate, that is where the Serbian Church and statehood were established. If this became Kosovar cultural heritage it would be a blow to Serbia's identity and nation, Dacic warned.

He underlined that the admission of Kosovo to UNESCO would be as absurd as the admission of the ISIS to this organisation, because those who have recently been destroying Serbian monuments can by no means turn overnight into their guardians.