FM reiterates: No giving up on either EU or Kosovo

FM reiterates: No giving up on either EU or Kosovo

Commenting on the recent statement by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic that Serbia will have to choose between the EU and Kosovo, Dacic said that the Serbian president derived this conclusion from a statement made by EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, who said that candidate countries should resolve their territorial disputes before joining the EU.

“As the foreign minister, I only take note of formal matters, and formally nobody has imposed such a demand on Serbia,” said Dacic.

He pointed to Serbia's stance that the dialogue with Pristina is status-neutral and to its readiness to discuss a final resolution of issues, but stressed that the other side shows no interest in the dialogue.

Regarding the cancellation of the South Stream project, Dacic said that the news was met with regret in Serbia but that the country must find a way to ensure stability of the energy system, and announced a Russia-Serbia bilateral meeting in the first quarter of next year.

Asked whether the good relations with Russia "could be a reason to discuss lower gas prices," Dacic said this "can be a topic, but not for me":

"That is not a topic of discussion for me, Premier Vucic will discuss that."

Serbia continues close cooperation with Russia regardless of the South Stream pipeline, Dacic added.