Hungary will vote against the admission of Kosovo to several European and international organisations, such as the Council of Europe and the EU, according to a declaration made by Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić from Budapest.
The comments came after a meeting was held with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó.
“The premature admission of Kosovo by various European entities may jeopardise the search for reconciliation. Therefore, if there is a vote on whether to accept Kosovo as a member of the Council of Europe, the government will vote no,” Szijjarto said after the meeting, adding that Hungary supports a peaceful solution through dialogue.
Kosovo applied for EU membership in December and announced its intention to do the same with the Council of Europe. Currently, in the bloc, Slovakia, Cyprus, Spain, Romania, and Greece do not recognise Kosovo’s independence from Serbia, declared in 2008.
Dacic said the Kosovo issue can only be resolved through concessions.
”We believe that the issue of Kosovo can only be resolved by compromise and we are very sensitive that it is approached in accordance with the policy of double standards when it comes to territorial integrity,” said Dačić.
“Either territorial integrity is a principle, or it is not. You can’t be in favour of preserving territorial integrity in one case, and say it the other way around,” he added.
There are three red lines when it comes to solving the issue, he also said.
The first is the respect of all signed agreements, something both sides have not done so far. The second is not recognising Kosovo’s independence or membership in the EU, and the third is the security of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo.
“If KFOR does not want to do this if the Kosovo police do not want to do it, then do not take us to the point that the Serbian police and army must guarantee security and peace in Kosovo. This is something we would not want,” he said.
Belgrade recently requested that NATO allow the sending of 1,000 Serbian military and security forces into the country but was refused.
As for the respect of agreements, Serbia continues to demand the establishment of the Association of Serb Municipalities, a structure that would have executive powers – something Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti and the Constitutional Court have ruled is not viable.
This has not stopped the West piling on pressure with senior advisor of the US Department of State, Derek Chollet, saying on Wednesday that “Kosovo must fulfill all commitments within the dialogue, including the formation of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority”.
Meanwhile, the head of Kosovo’s negotiating team for dialogue with Serbia, Besnik Bislimi, said that the meeting between the Prime Minister Albin Kurti and the Serbian President, Aleksandër Vucic on the Franco-German proposal, has not yet been held, despite the promises of the EU.
Although he did not disclose the details of the proposal, he stated that the “de jure” plan supports Serbia’s position that there should be no mutual recognition at this moment.
“The signed agreement, reached on November 23, set the deadline for when the next meeting of the special group for normalisation in Kosovo and the EU should be held. Therefore, it has already been agreed that the meeting will take place at the end of March,” he said.
He added that if by that date, Serbia does not sign, Kosovo will understand it does not intend to be constructive in dialogue. “This means that the process started on 23 November will be suspended and Kosovo will be able to continue issuing fines for illegal license plates that are still moving around Kosovo”. Bislimi said among other things.
(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)
Source: euractiv.com
