Tadic: "We'll never accept Kosovo independence"
Serbian President Boris Tadic said in Brussels on Monday that Serbia would neither explicitly nor implicitly accept Kosovo independence.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Tuesday, June 07, 2011
"This is the red line we will not cross under any conditions," Tadic said after his talks with European Council President Herman van Rompuy.
"Serbia, its administration, the government, and I as president will neither implicitly nor explicitly recognize Kosovo," Tadic said.
According to Tadic, there are countries "that would like to put Serbia in a situation where it would have to do something more to get the European Union (EU) membership candidacy status and the date of the beginning of the accession negotiations".
"That will not happen," he said.
"We will not do that and we will not cross the red line and I discussed the matter with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and van Rompuy," the Serbian president underlined.
He said that Belgrade's dialog with Pristina, i.e., the Kosovo Albanian authorities, was part of the efforts to enter the EU without a new conflict to burden the community of European countries.
"We are fighting for our interests by using all legal means available, in a way that presents Serbia as a reliable partner and shows that it will do what it said it would," Tadic added.
The Serbian president said Belgrade was ready to resolve daily life problems of people in Kosovo through talks with Pristina, pointing out that a solution could be found if both sides had "a flexible approach to the dialog".
