EU should change formulation 'integrity of Kosovo'

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said that for Serbia there is no alternative to the EU, but voiced expectation that the EU would change the formulation about “the territorial integrity of Kosovo” mentioned in the EU Enlargement Strategy which Serbia deems unacceptable.

(KosovoCompromiseStuff) Sunday, October 14, 2012

President Nikolic also said that he expects Brussels to be an honest and impartial facilitator to the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.
"The term "territorial integrity of Kosovo" is not acceptable for Serbia, which expects the EU to be an impartial facilitator to the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. A change of that formulation would constitute a small step and an encouragement for Serbia to resolve the outstanding issues in good faith and to the interest of all citizens, and continue the dialogue at the top political level," Nikolic said for the Belgrade-based daily news.

Noting that the formulations in the EU Enlargement Strategy demonstrate "a positive approach to the independence of Kosovo", the Serbian president said that the EU should not deem acceptable the secession of a part of Serbia, one of the UN's founders.

For the EU, it should not be unacceptable either that Serbia does not want the part of its territory to be given a state attribute in the EU Enlargement Strategy, contrary to all international documents and customs, Nikolic added.

"In its wish to get a start date for EU entry talks, Serbia has started to tackle burning issues, including the fight against crime and corruption, judiciary reform, and implementation of the agreements reached (in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue) so far, together with the continuation of the technical dialogue, thus demonstrating strong will to resolve the issue," the Serbian president said.