It is impossible to join EU and keep Kosovo, says EP rep

Eduard Kukan says that it will be clear in the European Commission’s report on October 10 what “normalization of relations with Priština” means.

Izvor: Politika

Saturday, 29.09.2012.

14:43

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BELGRADE Eduard Kukan says that it will be clear in the European Commission’s report on October 10 what “normalization of relations with Pristina” means. “There are no new conditions for the negotiations. I don’t think that the rules will change and I expect that it will be explained what normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo means,” stressed the head of the European Parliament (EP) Delegation for Southeast Europe. It is impossible to join EU and keep Kosovo, says EP rep During a meeting between Kukan, European Parliament (EP) Rapporteur for Serbia Jelko Kacin and Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert with reporters on Friday, Degert said that the EU “wants a visible progress in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue”. When asked whether it was possible for Serbia to achieve its goal, i.e. to keep Kosovo and join the EU, Kukan told daily Politika that it was not. He also noted that there was no EU criterion based on which the EU would request from Serbia to recognize Kosovo. “Serbia is for now requested to normalize the situation with Kosovo. I do not know what that means but we will find out soon because the report, that will be released on October 10, will say what normalization of relations with Kosovo means. As it is already known, not all EU member states recognized Kosovo. But 22 did and that is a great majority. They consider Kosovo an independent state and they treat it that way. So it is not possible to have both,” he was quoted as saying. After his meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, Serbia’s President Tomislav Nikolic said that Serbia would not fulfill the request to abolish so-called parallel institutions in Kosovo. When asked about the EU’s position regarding Nikolic’s statement, Kukan said: “Let us allow Serbia to express its opinion first”. He stressed that one should keep in mind that Ashton had also met with the Kosovo Albanian side. According to him, this means that “this is a triangle that will lead toward a final agreement in those things that are possible”. Kukan also added that he was interested to see who would be the lead negotiator in Serbia’s team for the talks with Pristina. Eduard Kukan (Beta) Politika

It is impossible to join EU and keep Kosovo, says EP rep

During a meeting between Kukan, European Parliament (EP) Rapporteur for Serbia Jelko Kacin and Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert with reporters on Friday, Degert said that the EU “wants a visible progress in the Belgrade-Priština dialogue”.

When asked whether it was possible for Serbia to achieve its goal, i.e. to keep Kosovo and join the EU, Kukan told daily Politika that it was not. He also noted that there was no EU criterion based on which the EU would request from Serbia to recognize Kosovo.

“Serbia is for now requested to normalize the situation with Kosovo. I do not know what that means but we will find out soon because the report, that will be released on October 10, will say what normalization of relations with Kosovo means. As it is already known, not all EU member states recognized Kosovo. But 22 did and that is a great majority. They consider Kosovo an independent state and they treat it that way. So it is not possible to have both,” he was quoted as saying.

After his meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, Serbia’s President Tomislav Nikolić said that Serbia would not fulfill the request to abolish so-called parallel institutions in Kosovo.

When asked about the EU’s position regarding Nikolić’s statement, Kukan said:

“Let us allow Serbia to express its opinion first”.

He stressed that one should keep in mind that Ashton had also met with the Kosovo Albanian side. According to him, this means that “this is a triangle that will lead toward a final agreement in those things that are possible”.

Kukan also added that he was interested to see who would be the lead negotiator in Serbia’s team for the talks with Priština.

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