LDP: New policy on Kosovo

LDP party leader Cedomir Jovanovic said on Thursday that Serbia needs to develop a new policy on Kosovo. It should focus on the national interests and everyday problems of Kosovo Serbs, Tanjug reported him as saying. LDP: New policy on Kosovo "Serbia's prime interest is that Serbs remain in Kosovo and that the quality of their life improves, which is impossible without normalization of relations between ethnic Albanians and Serbs," Jovanovic said. He told Radio and Television of Serbia that he was "considering initiation of talks with the people in the country and the foreign factors on which the final status of Kosovo depends - Europe and the U.S., with UN support." "We have clearly outlined the basic premises for talks with the EU, which do not include recognition of Kosovo's independence," the LDP leader said and reiterated that the country's policy, whatever it may be, needs to focus on the definition of Serbs' survival in Kosovo, and the development and transformation of the country." Serbian citizens should not be kept hostage to a wrong policy, Jovanovic stressed. The LDP does not want the problem to be solved in such a way that Serbs disappear from Kosovo, as was the case in some parts of Bosnia and Croatia, or that Serbia be alienated from the part of the world it "should strive for if it wants a better life for its citizens." The LDP wants these problems to be finally solved and that a platform for talks with the EU be defined, that the country obtains guarantees for EU accession and that it shows readiness to join NATO, Jovanovic said.

LDP: New policy on Kosovo

"Serbia's prime interest is that Serbs remain in Kosovo and that the quality of their life improves, which is impossible without normalization of relations between ethnic Albanians and Serbs," Jovanović said.

He told Radio and Television of Serbia that he was "considering initiation of talks with the people in the country and the foreign factors on which the final status of Kosovo depends - Europe and the U.S., with UN support."

"We have clearly outlined the basic premises for talks with the EU, which do not include recognition of Kosovo's independence," the LDP leader said and reiterated that the country's policy, whatever it may be, needs to focus on the definition of Serbs' survival in Kosovo, and the development and transformation of the country."

Serbian citizens should not be kept hostage to a wrong policy, Jovanović stressed.

The LDP does not want the problem to be solved in such a way that Serbs disappear from Kosovo, as was the case in some parts of Bosnia and Croatia, or that Serbia be alienated from the part of the world it "should strive for if it wants a better life for its citizens."

The LDP wants these problems to be finally solved and that a platform for talks with the EU be defined, that the country obtains guarantees for EU accession and that it shows readiness to join NATO, Jovanović said.