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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia united in defending its sovereignty

Belgrade/Athens, 9 April 2008

Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic stated today in Athens that Serbia is ready to sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU immediately.

Author: Fonet

In his speech at the international conference on foreign policy and safety in South Eastern Europe, organised by the British magazine The Economist, Jeremic invited the EU to overcome the differences and place Serbia on the road to EU membership, but also underlined that the process of bringing countries of the Western Balkans closer together cannot be guaranteed.

EU members would relieve us of all our doubts on whether we are welcome in the union if they overcame their reservation towards us which we still occasionally feel. Thus, a lot could be done on the road to regional stability as well, said the Minister.

Membership of Balkan countries in the EU will bring us closer together, closer than ever before, and it will unite the country and strengthen its national identity, he said.

He also noted that the main issue at the elections in Serbia on May 11 will be whether to choose Europe or not, given that Serbia is strongly united in the defence of its territorial integrity and the preservation of its sovereignty over Kosovo-Metohija.

A vast majority of our citizens are not ready to give up territorial integrity over Kosovo. We are of one mind and heart on that matter and we will remain so. We will continue defending our territorial integrity and the rights of Kosovo Serbs, reiterated Jeremic.

According to him, Serbia can nurture national unity based on Kosovo in order to preserve a whole and free democratic nation, a nation that understands the importance of making progress on the road to EU membership.

Sooner or later, the world will have to face up to the fact that Kosovo will never be a UN or an OSCE member and that it will not belong to the community of sovereign peoples or acquire the ultimate legitimacy status. As such, Kosovo will not be attractive for foreign investments and will inevitably fail if Belgrade is not there to offer help, said the Minister.

He explained that once the consequences of such a destabilising outcome become obvious, new possibilities for finding a comprehensive solution to the province’s future status will be opened – through compromise, concession and consensus.

He invited all who do not believe that such a solution can be reached to look at the reality closely and see the opportunity to solve the Kosovo issue in a way that will strengthen the European future of the Western Balkans.

According to him, the unilateral and illegal declaration of independence by Kosovo has caused huge complications in interior, regional and global policies, and the countries which recognised such independence in fact chose to explicitly disregard Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

With the acknowledgment of Kosovo, the debate on the legitimacy of internationally recognised borders has been renewed and a perilous and risky precedent has been created which threatens to harm all aspirations towards EU integration.

This precedent legitimises imposed solutions to ethnic conflicts, and the act of unilateral secession. It jeopardises the commitment to the peaceful solution of conflicts in Europe and that is the reality that cannot be ignored, concluded Jeremic.

Apart from Jeremic, also taking part in the international conference in the tourist centre Kavoura are foreign ministers from Greece Dora Bakoyanni, Bulgaria Ivailo Kalfin, Albania Ljuljzim Basa and Romania Adrian Cioroianu, as well as Republika Srpska Prime Minister Milorad Dodik.