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Serbia insists EU mission to Kosovo must be status-neutral

London/Belgrade, 11 November 2008

Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic said today that Serbia is ready to fully support an EU mission to Kosovo, as long as it is deployed according to a mandate approved by the Security Council and on condition that it is status-neutral.

In an interview for the weekly Economist magazine, published on their website today, Jeremic said that Serbia insists that the condition that the mission must be status-neutral should be put down on paper.

If the Security Council passes a decree that the mission must be status-neutral then Serbia will be ready to fully support the EU and the rest of the international community in the province, said the Minister.

He said that it is of essential importance that the mission gets Belgrade’s approval, which depends on the EU will accepting a neutral status for the mission, they also need the approval of the Security Council, because as the top UN decision making body only the Security Council is authorised to approve the deployment of international missions anywhere in the world.

“We have a common problem. We must stabilize Kosovo.” said Jeremic. He explained that Serbia shares the EU stance that safeguarding peace and stability in the region is a priority.

The Minister reiterated that Serbia’s EU accession and Kosovo status are two separate processes, adding that EU accession is Serbia’s strategic priority, but the accession process is blocked.

He said that he hopes it will be unblocked by the end of the French EU presidency and that Serbia’s EU integration process will be accelerated, adding that the Serbian government will make every effort to successfully conclude cooperation with the Hague tribunal.

Jeremic said that it would be a tragic mistake if Serbia halts the accession process in the current phase because the rest of the Western Balkans, a region that is part of the EU integration process, depends on this process as well. He added that Serbia has a good chance of accelerating the accession process.

Speaking about relations with Russia, Jeremic said that Serbia and Russia will always have special relations and that Belgrade is grateful for the support received from Moscow defending Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Jeremic also said that he hopes that Serbia will build better relations with the new US administration, adding that Serbia will make every effort to achieve this goal as soon as possible.