Serbia will choose Kosovo over EU says president

(BELGRADE) - Serbia will abandon its goal of joining the European Union if Brussels insists Belgrade recognises Kosovo's independence, President Tomislav Nikolic told a local newspaper Tuesday.

"If they officially impose the condition to choose between the EU and Kosovo, we will abandon our European path," Nikolic said in an interview with Vecernje Novosti.

"At the moment the EU is keeping us at a distance solely over Kosovo. They can keep us at a distance for another 100 years but that will not change our position on our southern province," he added, repeating Serbia's official stance that Kosovo is still part of Serbia despite its 2008 declaration of independence.

The Serbian leader said that if Belgrade got new conditions for EU entry "that were not applied to other (candidate) countries" it would drive Belgrade further from the bloc.

"In that case it would be preferable if they told us: 'We do not want you'," Nikolic said.

During a visit to Belgrade last week EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said Brussels should open accession talks with Serbia "as soon as it makes sufficient progress on the key priority, visible and sustainable improvement of relations with Kosovo".

Under strong international pressure Belgrade and Pristina have been engaged in a EU-brokered dialogue since March 2011 and reached several accords to make the Kosovo population's everyday life easier.

Kosovo and its two million majority ethnic-Albanian population had been under some form of international administration since a NATO bombing campaign forced then Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic's forces out of the province in 1999.

Kosovo's 2008 unilaterally proclaimed independence, fiercely rejected by Serbia, has been recognised by some 90 states, including the United States and 22 out of the 27 EU member states.