President Aleksandar Vučić has called all opposition parties to brief them about the latest European plan for Serbia and Kosovo, amid growing pressure from the EU on Belgrade to acknowledge the sovereignty of its former province if it wants to keep alive its prospects of joining the EU.
At the same time, Serbia’s parliament is set to debate Kosovo “in the next 10 days”, parliament speaker Vladimir Orlić announced, according to Vreme.
Vucic, who has already made a half-hearted offer to resign over the issue of Kosovo, has said that he wants all parties to know the details of the plan, which he referred to as “Franco-German”, and that he will seek a stronger role of the government and parliament in reaching a decision.
A significant part of opposition parties have refused to heed to call, however, Vreme reported.
Vučić warned on Monday that Serbia could face international isolation – as well as economic decline – if it rejects the comprehensive new Western plan for normalising relations with Pristina.
He said that Serbia must continue on its European path, and acknowledged that the EU is the biggest investor and donor in the Balkan country, at a time when popular support in Serbia for the EU has sunk to an all-time low.
Under the new plan, which has been leaked but not officially published, Serbia would not oppose Kosovo’s membership of international organisations, including the UN, while Kosovo would agree to establish an association of Serb municipalities in the northern part of the country.
A formal recognition is not explicitly mentioned, possibly in an attempt to sweeten the pill for Belgrade, which has vowed never to recognise Kosovo.
(Zoran Radosavljević | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
