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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Slovakia strongly supports territorial integrity of Serbia

Belgrade/Bratislava, 11 December 2018

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said in Bratislava today that she presented Prime Minister of Slovakia Petar Pellegrini with the situation in which Pristina introduced fees to Serbia, and with the enormous concern of Belgrade due to the announcement of formation of the so-called "Kosovo army".

At a news conference after meeting with the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Brnabic pointed out that Serbia considers this to be the greatest and most direct threat to peace and stability in the region.

These are not European values. We want to join the EU, this is where the Balkans should be, and we are committed to dialogue, Brnabic said.

According to Brnabic, she asked the Prime Minister of Slovakia to influence the EU to bring Pristina back to dialogue, rather than to create barriers.

We are grateful to Slovakia for its position on the so-called "army of Kosovo," she added, recalling that Slovakia is one of five EU members that does not recognise Kosovo's independence and that the EU is therefore status neutral.

That practically makes Pristina to sit down and be stimulated to make an agreement with Belgrade so that everyone in the region has a different future, she said.

Brnabic pointed out that she cannot understand Pristina's position that Serbs in the southern province are not allowed to have the press in their mother tongue in the 21st century.

Holidays are coming, and we do not know whether the Serbs in Kosovo will have heating or medicines, and instead of talking about the future, innovations, we are talking about weapons and the army. This is unacceptable for Serbia. I ask everyone in Europe to return to the talks and dialogue. Serbia has the greatest interest in regional stability, Brnabic said.

She stressed that Slovakia respects international law and justice and does not accept the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo and has a principled position on the issue.

I conveyed gratitude of the Serbian people to Pellegrini. We will not forget such a firm stance. The fact that you help us in this way allows us to have a dialogue on the possible long-term normalisation of relations with Pristina, she stressed.

Pellegrini said that Slovakia explicitly opposes the transformation of Kosovo security forces into the armed forces and emphasised that his country still strongly supports the territorial integrity of Serbia and that its position regarding the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo will not change.

We see the dialogue as the only path, Pellegrini said, with the assessment that the situation in Kosovo is very complex.

Slovakia is a member of NATO and I think that the position of the Alliance regarding the issue of forming the "army of Kosovo" is negative. That is why I think that the Alliance will be equally firm, and that is the attitude of both the international community and the EU. Slovakia will use its instruments in the OSCE to address this issue, he stressed.

Pellegrini stressed that Pristina must receive a clear signal that if it makes steps against international law and if it violates peace and stability in the region, it cannot count on being a respected partner in Europe.

It is necessary to call on Pristina to withdraw from these unilateral and above all unconstitutional steps. No one would like Serbia to be forced to defend its vulnerable population in Kosovo with its army. I am sorry that at the moment it seems that Pristina has no interest in a peaceful solution, and we can see the tendency to tensions and further escalation, Pellegrini said.