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 wants direct negotiations on Kosovo at highest level

Belgrade/New York, 25 September 2012

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said today in New York that Serbia is committed to achieving a lasting peace between Serbs and Albanians, and that it advocates direct negotiations at the highest political level, with no recognition of Kosovo's independence.

AUDIO: Speech by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic at the 67th annual UN General Assembly session

Author: Fonet

Nikolic, addressing the participants of the general debate of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly, underlined that Serbia wants a permanent, viable and acceptable solution to all problems.

He pointed out that our country wants to move forward towards European future and is fully committed to the process whose result should be a lasting peace between Serbs and Albanians.

We have a strong desire to continue negotiations in good faith, taking into account, among other things, the fact that it is important to maintain the dynamics of European integration of Serbia and the Western Balkans in order to ensure long-term prosperity and stability of the region, the Serbian President said.

Nikolic explained that our country offers a concrete proposal - direct negotiations at the highest political level, noting that Serbia is ready for a constructive participation in the negotiating process.

According to him, the agreement can be reached only through consensus, without one-sided decisions and moves.

At the same time, let me be clear: Serbia is not ready, it cannot and will never, under any circumstances, recognise, explicitly or implicitly, the unilaterally proclaimed independence of its southern province of Kosovo-Metohija, Nikolic declared.

Serbia will continue negotiations fully prepared to help all citizens of Kosovo-Metohija live better, in democratic and safe conditions, but will not negotiate on the implementation of independence of the so-called state of Kosovo.

Nikolic underlined that the issue of Kosovo-Metohija can be resolved and will be resolved in a peaceful manner and added that Serbia will fulfil all obligations it has assumed under the agreements reached so far.

He said that Serbia sincerely wants to become an equal EU member and patiently builds a relationship of trust and peace in the region, which is burdened by a difficult history.

So far we have done a lot on the implementation of reforms, the fight against crime and corruption, the harmonisation of legislation with EU regulations. In that sense Serbia has done even more than the countries that are already members of the Union, the Serbian President underscored.

Nikolic warned that our country, despite its strong support for strict observance of international law and all the basic documents on which the work of the UN is grounded, today faces the violation of the fundamental principles of the UN Charter in the part of its territory.

According to him, the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo is a dangerous precedent and long-term threat to stability in the region of the Western Balkans and beyond.

The Serbian President underlined that Serbia, which is a member of the UN, is a victim of double standards, emphasizing that our struggle against the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo is at the same time the fight for the preservation of principle of respect for territorial integrity.

The struggle for Serbia’s territorial integrity has today become the struggle for peace in all countries of the world and for the rule of law in international relations, Nikolic observed adding that the majority of UN members refrained from recognising Kosovo’s independence. He thanked them for their support and solidarity.

The Serbian President stressed that Serbia is proud of the excellent and important relations with a large number of states in the world, as well as that it is proud of its own history.

Certain members of our people have made mistakes, some of them even committed crimes, but this is true for all nations. All of our citizens who were suspected of breaking international law have been delivered to international justice. Therefore we have the full right to expect justice for the country and the people who had sided with justice and human rights in both world wars, Nikolic noted.

He also harshly condemned the attempt of the so-called Republic of Kosovo to claim the material heritage of the Serbian medieval state and the spiritual heritage of the Serbian people, along with the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the province, as its own.

Nikolic stressed that this is a blatant attempt to fabricate history, an attempt at historical revisionism and deletion of all traces of the existence of the Serbian people in the province.

He also observed that Serbia demands an investigation into allegations from the report by Dick Marty, rapporteur of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly.

The Serbian President underlined that Serbia wants nothing more but justice, truth and the uncovering of the fates of hundreds of missing Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija, who we justifiably suppose to have been victims of illicit trade in human organs and other crimes committed in Kosovo-Metohija.

Nikolic recalled that for several decades Serbia has striven to help all multinational operations under the UN mandate to the best of its ability, stressing that the active participation of Serbia in the coming period will be even more prominent and pronounced.

Despite the considerable efforts of almost all states, terrorism perseveres as a threat to international stability.

Serbia has synchronised its regulations with international laws regulating security and it is trying to put an end to terrorism through global and regional efforts, Nikolic noted.

He said that in this sense, it is crucial to adopt a comprehensive convention on international terrorism.

The President observed that Serbia is a point of contact of various cultures and religions, where the spiritual and material heritage is a mixture of tradition and elements of different religious communities and ethnicities.

No one should suffer or be humiliated on the basis of their religion. Their religious feelings are protected as one of the fundamental human rights. We must not allow a single life to be lost in conflicts driven by religious differences, Nikolic remarked.

The President severely condemned attacks on innocent people who must be provided with special protection, and on behalf of the Serbian people extended condolences to the United States over the death of the US Ambassador in Libya.