Russia: EU conditions can't go against Serbian interests

Russian Ambassador Aleksandr Konuzin says that the conditions for Serbia's EU integration must not run against the country's interests. "Russia has always believed that the European Union can play a major role in helping to solve the issue of the Balkans, especially Serbia," the top Russian diplomat said in a statement for Tanjug news agency Wednesday. Russia: EU conditions can't go against Serbian interests Noting that Moscow "saw the importance which Serbia's EU accession had for Serbia", he said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had addressed this very issue in a news conference after the Russia-EU Council of Ministers meeting in Luxembourg, when the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) was signed. Lavrov at the time said that numerous problems could have been avoided if Europe had expressed its initiative toward Serbia earlier. "Indeed, if in addition to the declaration of Serbia's European perspective, time had not been lost, and if the resolution of the Kosovo issue had been included in this perspective, the illegal declaration of independence of the province would have been avoided as would the awkward attempts to justify it and impose by force this illegal solution, i.e., direct violation of the Bible of modern international relations - the UN Charter," the Russian ambassador said. Reminding of the fact Belgrade and the European Union initialed the SAA in November 2007, Konuzin said that the mutually acceptable text of the document, as far as Russia understood, had been a result of a strenuous but equal dialogue conducted with respect. He said, however, that the situation has "visibly changed by the time when the Agreement was signed". "Most EU members recognized the unilateral declaration of independence of Pristina. The proposal to include corrections of the text, in order to support Serbia's territorial integrity was ignored. And it has now become clear why. Some EU member-states tacitly, and some even openly, start from the position that the SAA does not refer to Kosovo," Konuzin said. "Is such an understanding in line with Belgrade's approach," Konuzin wondered and said that Serbs themselves had to decide on this. "I want to stress once again - Russia does not oppose Serbia's EU membership. Good luck! But the conditions of integration must not clash with the country's interests and divide the Serbian society," the ambassador said. This morning in Belgrade, Konuzin met with Parliamentary Speaker Oliver Dulic, DS. The two agreed that relations between the two countries were "developing dynamically in every sector". According to a statement from Dulic's cabinet after the meeting, Konuzin said that he supported Serbia’s European integration, and that the Kosovo crisis would have been solved differently had Serbia begun its EU integration earlier. “The two agreed that the new parliament, soon after its formation, would have to begin discussions on the energy agreement between Serbia and the Russian Federation,” read the statement. Dulic thanked Russia for its principled stand regarding Kosovo’s final status, and said that he supported a resumption of negotiations whose goal would be to find a lawful solution, the statement concluded. Aleksandr Konuzin (Tanjug)

Russia: EU conditions can't go against Serbian interests

Noting that Moscow "saw the importance which Serbia's EU accession had for Serbia", he said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had addressed this very issue in a news conference after the Russia-EU Council of Ministers meeting in Luxembourg, when the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) was signed.

Lavrov at the time said that numerous problems could have been avoided if Europe had expressed its initiative toward Serbia earlier.

"Indeed, if in addition to the declaration of Serbia's European perspective, time had not been lost, and if the resolution of the Kosovo issue had been included in this perspective, the illegal declaration of independence of the province would have been avoided as would the awkward attempts to justify it and impose by force this illegal solution, i.e., direct violation of the Bible of modern international relations - the UN Charter," the Russian ambassador said.

Reminding of the fact Belgrade and the European Union initialed the SAA in November 2007, Konuzin said that the mutually acceptable text of the document, as far as Russia understood, had been a result of a strenuous but equal dialogue conducted with respect.

He said, however, that the situation has "visibly changed by the time when the Agreement was signed".

"Most EU members recognized the unilateral declaration of independence of Priština. The proposal to include corrections of the text, in order to support Serbia's territorial integrity was ignored. And it has now become clear why. Some EU member-states tacitly, and some even openly, start from the position that the SAA does not refer to Kosovo," Konuzin said.

"Is such an understanding in line with Belgrade's approach," Konuzin wondered and said that Serbs themselves had to decide on this.

"I want to stress once again - Russia does not oppose Serbia's EU membership. Good luck! But the conditions of integration must not clash with the country's interests and divide the Serbian society," the ambassador said.

This morning in Belgrade, Konuzin met with Parliamentary Speaker Oliver Dulić, DS.

The two agreed that relations between the two countries were "developing dynamically in every sector".

According to a statement from Dulić's cabinet after the meeting, Konuzin said that he supported Serbia’s European integration, and that the Kosovo crisis would have been solved differently had Serbia begun its EU integration earlier.

“The two agreed that the new parliament, soon after its formation, would have to begin discussions on the energy agreement between Serbia and the Russian Federation,” read the statement.

Dulić thanked Russia for its principled stand regarding Kosovo’s final status, and said that he supported a resumption of negotiations whose goal would be to find a lawful solution, the statement concluded.