Keepin touch

Whether you have a question, comment, suggestion or any problem in the purview of the government, send us your message and we will try to respond as soon as possible. If your problem is not in our purview, we will forward your message to the relevant institution.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia’s strategic goals to retain Kosovo, join EU

Belgrade/Kiev, 28 May 2008

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic stated that Serbia has two goals in its foreign policy – to retain Kosovo-Metohija and acquire EU candidate status by the year’s end and full membership within four years.

Bozidar Djelic

In an interview to the Ukrainian news agency Glavred, Djelic stated that many say that this is impossible, but added that Serbia is convinced of its strength.

He stressed that Serbia has not lost Kosovo and that it will never lose it, and noted that it is obvious that Serbia is becoming a democratic country, ready to talk at the negotiating table, as well as that not a single Serbian politician is ready to trade Kosovo.

We will never recognise Kosovo’s independence because the province is not only a portion of our territory, it is a part of our state, our history, culture, religion, it is our Jerusalem, stressed Djelic and added that Serbia will never agree to ultimatums, which Brussels knows very well.

He emphasised that Serbia is not proposing full centralisation in the province, but is ready to ensure a maximum level of authorisations to Albanians, however, only within one state.

We are certain that we will reach a compromise, said Djelic and noted that there are many possibilities for that.

He said that Serbia plans to defend its stance at the UN General Assembly in September and convince its representatives that only some states see Kosovo’s independence as a reality.

According to him, Pristina cannot exist without Belgrade, just as Serbia cannot be without Kosovo, and it is necessary to follow a civilised logic, because otherwise, no one can guarantee that tomorrow a part of some other European state will not become a new country.

We need integration. Our strategic goals are to keep Kosovo within Serbia and become an EU member. We want to close “Pandora’s box” peacefully and without excess, Djelic said.

He said that as for the issue of Kosovo-Metohija’s status, Serbia has crucial support from Russia, China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Algeria, Libya, Armenia, Spain, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Greece and Cyprus.

Responding to a statement that the existence of large Serbian entities in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina that might become independent could also be used in the negotiations, Djelic said that hypothetically that could be one of Serbia’s strong arguments, but that Serbia recognised those countries as independent.

We never threatened them with the loss of sovereignty and we will never do that. Belgrade recognised and signed the provisions of the Dayton Agreement and we will not change our position. That is why we are not going to start using separatist rhetoric to achieve goals, Djelic said.

According to him, the possibilities are either integration of Serbia and Kosovo into the EU as a single state, as was the case with the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which consisted of six republics with broad autonomous powers, or that Serbia’s disintegration creates a precedent and arms separatists with arguments, both in the Balkans and other regions in the world.

Just look who welcomed the independence of Kosovo – representatives of ETA, Tamil Tiger fighters in Sri Lanka and many others, Djelic said and warned that calls to separatism are not the best solution to this problem.

The Serbian Deputy Prime Minister said that improvement of living conditions for Serbia’s population, including those in Kosovo, is the real solution to the problem.