New Greek government won't recognize Kosovo - ambassador

New Greek government won't recognize Kosovo - ambassador

"As you well know, Greece is one of the five EU countries that have not recognized the self-proclaimed independence of Kosovo and we maintain that stance, Economides said in an interview he gave on the occasion of Greek Independence Day.

Economides also said that Greece-Serbia relations are based on solid foundations, adding they were established in the context of common historical, religious, cultural and social ties many centuries ago.

"The presence of Greek investors ever since the tough years of economic isolation in the 1990s, close political and economic cooperation and a huge number of Serbian tourists visiting Greece every year are good indicators of the special ties. Our close relations will be even more strengthened by Serbia's European prospects we fully support," the Greek ambassador said.

Asked to comment on Serbia's "balancing" between Russia and the EU, the diplomat said:

"First it must be said that defining Serbia's foreign policy is exclusively the power and the responsibility of the Serbian government. That means that EU accession remains the main strategic goal of Serbia. In that context, provisions of the negotiating framework between Serbia and the EU adopted in December 2013 clearly state Serbia's obligation to gradually harmonize its foreign policy with the common EU policy by the the time the negotiating process has been finalized."

Asked whether the first chapter in that process could be opened by the end of 2015, Economides said that his country "firmly believes Serbia has made significant progress on its path toward EU integrations, showing the will and determination to continue with all the necessary reforms in order to fulfill membership criteria."

The ambassador added that his country fully supports the opening of first chapters as soon as possible "in order to create the necessary momentum to speed up reforms and maintain a stable pace of the process of Serbia's accession."

The newspaper also wanted to know what the diplomat thought were "the main tasks of Serbian authorities when it comes to the country' European path."

"In accordance with the so-called new approach to the EU accession process it is crystal clear that Serbian authorities should focus their efforts in this early stage of the accession negotiations mainly on essential issues, for example, adopt necessary reforms in the fields of justice and the rule of law, and implement public administration and structural reforms in the field of economy. Along with that, it is of paramount importance that the Serbian government continues to constructively engage in the ongoing process of dialogue on the normalization of relations with Pristina," Economides said.