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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

EU accession, Kosovo should remain two separate issues

Belgrade, 13 December 2008

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said that one of the most important tasks of Serbian diplomacy is to ensure that the Kosovo issue and EU accession remain two separate processes.

Author: Beta

In an interview with Blic today, Jeremic said that if these two issues become mixed, Serbia could find itself in an extremely tough situation.

Safeguarding the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty is our constitutional obligation and according to my deepest convictions it must remain a priority. We will do everything in our power to ensure that we are not forced to choose between our strategic priority of joining the EU and undermining our democratic constitutional order, said Jeremic.

He said that Serbia will become an EU member in record time when all the political conditions pertaining to full cooperation with the Hague tribunal are met.

The only obstacle in our path to the EU is indeed the issue of cooperation with the Hague tribunal. I am personally firmly convinced that this is the case. This government is fully committed to fulfilling national and international obligations. EU enlargement, unfortunately, is not a top priority for the EU at this moment, however, despite that, one of the Serbian government’s most important priorities in 2009 will be actively working on meeting membership criteria, said Jeremic.

Speaking about diplomatic relations with neighbouring countries, the Foreign Minister said that relations could be better, but the main problem is that a number of neighbouring countries have decided to recognise Kosovo’s unilaterally declared independence.

In our response we have kept in view the fact that in order to protect national interests and because of our commitment to EU integration, as little damage as possible should be done to these relations. As far as Croatia is concerned, if any side has taken steps that damaged bilateral relations, it is the Croatian government. Not only did they recognise Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence, they insisted on filing law suits against Serbia. These two decisions can hardly be called well intentioned. They carry far more responsibility for the situation than us, but this does not mean that in 2009 and the coming years we should not make every effort to resolve past issues and help each other achieve our common goal, which is a European future, said Jeremic.

Commenting on the visit of a high level Serbian delegation to Russia to attend the funeral of Russian Patriarch Alexiy II, Jeremic said that Russia and Serbia have very close ties, and an important part of these relations are their spiritual links.

The fact that Serbia was represented at the top state level affirms the importance of these spiritual ties and is symbolised by the last homage paid to Patriarch Alexiy II, who was a great friend of Serbia and the Serbian people, said Jeremic.