Germany "never asked Serbia to recognize Kosovo"

German Ambassador to Serbia Wolfram Maas has stated that his country has never asked Serbia to recognize Kosovo’s independence. “We have never expected or asked for the Kosovo recognition but we do expect normalization of relations (with Kosovo) from Serbia,” he told reporters in Novi Sad. Germany "never asked Serbia to recognize Kosovo" According to Maas, the decision made by the European Council on December 9 should be taken the right way – as a three-month delay of the decision on Serbia’s EU candidate status. “There are still several things that need to be done in that period and Serbia has an opportunity to implement everything it said it would do. If that is done, the decision in March will be automatic,” the German official pointed out. He added that he did not doubt that Kosovo’s regional representation would be solved in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and that the decision on Serbia’s EU candidate status would be positive once the issue had been resolved. Maas added that he did not expect that the postponement of the candidate status decision would have a significant impact on foreign investments in Serbia. Wolfram Maas (FoNet, file)

Germany "never asked Serbia to recognize Kosovo"

According to Maas, the decision made by the European Council on December 9 should be taken the right way – as a three-month delay of the decision on Serbia’s EU candidate status.

“There are still several things that need to be done in that period and Serbia has an opportunity to implement everything it said it would do. If that is done, the decision in March will be automatic,” the German official pointed out.

He added that he did not doubt that Kosovo’s regional representation would be solved in the Belgrade-Priština dialogue and that the decision on Serbia’s EU candidate status would be positive once the issue had been resolved.

Maas added that he did not expect that the postponement of the candidate status decision would have a significant impact on foreign investments in Serbia.