| Koštunica: Kosovo takes precedence over EU |
| 31 July 2006 | 09:53
| Source:
B92 |
BELGRADE --
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica said that Serbia won’t give up Kosovo for the sake of joining the EU.
 | Vojislav Koštunica
|
Koštunica believes the answer to the hardest problem faced by the country, that of Kosovo status, will after all not be unfavorable for Serbia. “A part of the international community works with only one solution for Kosovo in mind. That solution – independence – brings with it many shortcomings, while the solution we’re advocating – essential autonomy – has many advantages”, Koštunica said.
The prime minister said Belgrade will use all the legal recourses available in case of the province’s independence. Asked to comment on the seriousness of Tomislav Nikolić's recent statement that Kosovo will be defended with arms, Koštunica said the Kosovo debate should be conducted within the parliamentary procedure, with the negotiating team reporting to the parliament on the results at the beginning of autumn. .
“The parliament is the only democratic forum to debate the question of Kosovo. If we consider this worst of all solutions, Serbia’s position will be to reiterate that Kosovo is a part of Serbia. This in not empty rhetoric but a legal and constitutional formulation”, Koštunica told the daily Danas.
According to him, Serbia has so far reached for the argument of legality, rather than force. “This is how we would act from now on as well. The argument of force has all too often been to the advantage of others, certain parts of the international community, which at times condition our country’s association with the EU with the renouncing of our right over Kosovo. That is impossible. There are certain preconditions set for all the countries that wish to join the EU. None of these preconditions include territorial concessions in favor of others. Therefore, Serbia cannot be asked to do anything of the kind”, Koštunica said.
Asked if he expected the EU association talks to resume at the end of September, the alternative to which would be early elections in Serbia, the prime minister said many options were on the table, and reminded that Croatia was given a chance to resume talks even before extraditing Ante Gotovina to the Hague. “We expect the Action Plan to yield results, we will have reports fairly soon and then we will see”.
Koštunica said he is in favor of the parliamentary elections taking place after the adoption of the new constitution, since Serbia is no longer a federal unit or a part of a state union, and must therefore arrange its relationships in a new and a different way, in order to adopt a constitution that will serve generations to come.
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