German MEP: Serbs should make Kosovo “sustainable state”

European parliament member Doris Pack said that Serbia will not enter the European Union “until it solves its problems with Kosovo”.

According to Deutsche Welle, she said at a round table discussion in Berlin that Serbia’s “biggest problem is the fact that Kosovo is its closest neighbor which it does not want to recognize”.

“Relations between Serbia and Kosovo are very poor and this must change,” she was also quoted as saying.

Pack added that an possible partition of Kosovo “would not change the situation”.

“It can be solved only if Serbs in Kosovo take their fate into their own hands,” she advised.

“Serbs in Kosovo should really do that. This will help the small country of Kosovo remain sustainable. That is in the interest of Serbia and the entire region,” Pack said.

Serbs in Kosovo should make themselves active and work in creating “policies of their country”, while “the biggest chance will be given to them at the coming local elections, where they can be elected for positions in Kosovo municipal councils”, this MEP believes.

“If Serbs in Belgrade tell Serbs in Kosovo that they should not be politically active in the elections or not participate, because otherwise they would not get financial assistance, then I believe that this is not the right path to implementing good neighborly relations,” Pack concluded.