“EU must not condition Serbia with Kosovo“

Czech and Slovak presidents have strongly supported Serbia and Croatia's EU integration at a meeting on Saturday. They also added that Serbia's further European pathway must not be conditioned with Kosovo. “EU must not condition Serbia with Kosovo“ “Regardless of our positions about EU's policy we expressed strong support to Croatia's EU membership and Serbia's future membership at the today's meeting,“ Czech President Vaclav Klaus told a press conference. When asked whether they believed that Serbia could get the EU candidate status on March 1 and whether they were trying to persuade hesitant countries to support Serbia, Klaus said they had been using every opportunity to do that. “We clearly declare our support to Serbia. The EU door must not be closed, an opportunity to take part in the Euro-integration process must be given to every country that wants it. That's our clear position,“ he added. Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic pointed out that Bratislava shared the position. “The EU cannot condition Serbia with Kosovo. Serbia must be evaluated based on what it has done regarding the fulfillment of standards,“ he explained. Serbia's President Boris Tadic thanked the two countries for their support and added that it should be clear to everyone in the world that “Serbia must not be conditioned with Kosovo“, especially bearing in mind that it had done everything in order to enable functioning of the system in southeast Europe, including Pristina's regional representation but without recognizing Kosovo. He said that the EU membership was a “political investment“ that had both positive and risky elements. “Still, for Serbia it primarily means benefit,“ Tadic added. Croat President Ivo Josipovic stressed that recognition of Kosovo had not been a condition for granting of the EU candidate status. “We will see how things will go. But I remind you that Croatia had to fulfill certain political conditions too on its European pathway and I am sure that Serbia will do so as well,“ he stated. The Croat president noted that his country's strategic interest was to see all Balkan countries in the EU, adding that Croatia would help its neighbors. According to him, Croatia has been modernized thanks to the EU negotiations and it will benefit from the membership regardless of the problems the EU is facing. Josipovic said that it was often more difficult to solve problems from the past in the region than the new ones. All four presidents agreed that it was necessary to organize such meetings again. Tadic stressed that the four countries’ cooperation would contribute to stability in both cenrtal and southeast Europe. The four presidents are seen after the meeting (Tanjug) Tanjug

“EU must not condition Serbia with Kosovo“

“Regardless of our positions about EU's policy we expressed strong support to Croatia's EU membership and Serbia's future membership at the today's meeting,“ Czech President Vaclav Klaus told a press conference.

When asked whether they believed that Serbia could get the EU candidate status on March 1 and whether they were trying to persuade hesitant countries to support Serbia, Klaus said they had been using every opportunity to do that.

“We clearly declare our support to Serbia. The EU door must not be closed, an opportunity to take part in the Euro-integration process must be given to every country that wants it. That's our clear position,“ he added.

Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič pointed out that Bratislava shared the position.

“The EU cannot condition Serbia with Kosovo. Serbia must be evaluated based on what it has done regarding the fulfillment of standards,“ he explained.

Serbia's President Boris Tadić thanked the two countries for their support and added that it should be clear to everyone in the world that “Serbia must not be conditioned with Kosovo“, especially bearing in mind that it had done everything in order to enable functioning of the system in southeast Europe, including Priština's regional representation but without recognizing Kosovo.

He said that the EU membership was a “political investment“ that had both positive and risky elements.

“Still, for Serbia it primarily means benefit,“ Tadić added.

Croat President Ivo Josipović stressed that recognition of Kosovo had not been a condition for granting of the EU candidate status.

“We will see how things will go. But I remind you that Croatia had to fulfill certain political conditions too on its European pathway and I am sure that Serbia will do so as well,“ he stated.

The Croat president noted that his country's strategic interest was to see all Balkan countries in the EU, adding that Croatia would help its neighbors.

According to him, Croatia has been modernized thanks to the EU negotiations and it will benefit from the membership regardless of the problems the EU is facing.

Josipović said that it was often more difficult to solve problems from the past in the region than the new ones.

All four presidents agreed that it was necessary to organize such meetings again. Tadić stressed that the four countries’ cooperation would contribute to stability in both cenrtal and southeast Europe.