PM: Kosovo is not and cannot be condition

Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic has stated that a recognition of Kosovo as independent was not and cannot be a condition for Serbia's EU integration. "For as long as there is at least one (EU) member state that does not recognize Kosovo's independence, and currently there are five of them, recognition cannot be a condition for EU integration," Cvetkovic said in a brief statement for the Belgrade-based daily Veccrnje Novosti. PM: Kosovo is not and cannot be condition The province's ethnic Albanians unilaterally proclaimed independence in early 2008, but Serbia rejected it as illegal. The prime minister added that the statements of "certain German MPs are not an official position of Germany, which was confirmed by German Deputy Defense Minister Christian Schmitt on Thursday". According to Tanjug, Schmitt said that international recognition of Kosovo's independence was not a condition for the talks between Serbia and the EU, adding the condition was to solve practical issues important for the everyday life of people in Kosovo. Mirko Cvetkovic (file)

PM: Kosovo is not and cannot be condition

The province's ethnic Albanians unilaterally proclaimed independence in early 2008, but Serbia rejected it as illegal.

The prime minister added that the statements of "certain German MPs are not an official position of Germany, which was confirmed by German Deputy Defense Minister Christian Schmitt on Thursday".

According to Tanjug, Schmitt said that international recognition of Kosovo's independence was not a condition for the talks between Serbia and the EU, adding the condition was to solve practical issues important for the everyday life of people in Kosovo.