"Serbia will not be solving Kosovo problem by capitulating"

"Serbia will not be solving Kosovo problem by capitulating"

Dacic said that "the internal dialogue on Kosovo and Metohija" - launched recently by President Aleksandar Vucic - is an invitation to have "a dialogue amongst ourselves" - while some have understood it as "an invitation to recognize Kosovo."

He said it was disgraceful that "somebody thinks" Serbia would give in and recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo.

As for the criticism of his "delimitation" idea, Dacic said it was "disgraceful if somebody considers his proposal to be a violation of borders."

"What borders - have they no shame? They violated Serbia's borders, and are now saying, okay, no more. A dialogue cannot be conducted in such a way," Dacic stressed.

The minister also thinks that "(Bill) Clinton's policy is alive" - but that "times have changed."

Commenting on Wednesday's US-Adriatic Charter Summit in Podgorica, Montenegro, Dacic said that the region's countries are once again being forced to choose between the East and the West - "two terms from the time of the Iron Curtain" - but that Serbia "is not taking part in that."

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, he continued, "there is no more Communist East."

"This is about Russia, and everything is being viewed through the stance toward Russia," Dacic said.

"Serbia favors itself, not the East or the West," he added.

Stressing that the Adriatic Charter is an organization of those countries who aspire to join NATO, Dacic described it as being "on its way out" - because three of its five members have already joined the military alliance.

Serbia is an observer there, he remarked, and is taking part "in a relaxed manner - since it has no desire to join either NATO or any other bloc."

The summit was never in the past held at the level of prime ministers, but was raised to that level this year for the sake of Montenegro, Dacic said.

"We respect Montenegro as a state, but it is a gross exaggeration to say it has the leading role in advancing stability and security in the Western Balkan region. If that is so - let them solve the problem of stability and security," Dacic concluded.