Eurasia Press & News
Božidar Đelić says Serbia will say that Kosovo is its part when it answers EU questionnaire questions about the country’s borders, territory and population.
The deputy Serbian PM and former U.S. Ambassador in Belgrade William Montgomery both took part in a talk show on B92 TV late on Sunday, and agreed normalization of relations with Priština is necessary for Serbia’s EU entry.
Đelić also said that giving up on its EU ambition would represent a step back for Sebria while it would give a chance to EU members to consider accepting Kosovo as a member, according to him.
“As Montgomery says we will not be able to join the EU until we solve the status of Kosovo but neither will Priština. This is in fact a spur to find a compromise. Entering the EU spurs to compromise,” said he.
The former U.S. diplomat said the international community sees Balkan borders as cemented and that everyone wants establishment of a process of normalization from the talks.
He also said that he could not say whether there would be conditions during the negotiations concerning the EU, but that he was certain Serbia would not join until there is real normalization, and said this did not mean a recognition of Kosovo as a government and state but full normalization, and that that is something this government will have to accept sooner or later
Đelić and Mongtomery also discussed the issue of a partition of Kosovo.
“Is partition this only logical in the future? I’m not saying, it’s neither the place nor format, but the fact is we have two communities that do not see themselves in the same political corpus and that is something that must have a certain reflection in the solution that will be adopted in the end,” said Đelić.
Montgomery said that while he personally always advocated the idea, no one in the U.S. government supported it and said that they all believed Kosovo must remain independent, while there was fear of the consequences partition could have in the region, in Macedonia and Bosnia.
The former ambassador stressed that there was zero chance for partition to take place after the ICJ advisory opinion and the UN General Assembly resolution in September.
Meanwhile the Albanian language media in Priština say that the government there will fall on Tuesday with early elections set for December 12.
