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Serbia says recognition of Kosovo key condition for EU

13 December 2011, 15:03 CET
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(BELGRADE) - Serbia must recognise Kosovo's independence if it is to win candidate status for the European Union by a new March deadline, the country's deputy prime minister said Tuesday.

"We should not lie to each other or tell fairy tales any more, this is what is asked of us," Beta news agency quoted Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic as saying.

European leaders at a summit on Friday decided to delay to March a decision on whether Serbia could be a candidate for EU membership, calling for Belgrade to improve its relations with the breakaway territory of Kosovo.

Serbia has never accepted Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence -- recognised by the United States and most, but not all, European Union countries -- and still considers the territory officially its southern province.

Dacic accused the international community of failing to meet the expectations of Serbia's citizens after the ouster of late strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.

"Nobody mentioned the issue of Kosovo independence then, and now, 11 years later, we can not even get candidacy," said Dacic, who now leads the reformed Socialist Party once headed by Milosevic.

"It is not fair or realistic that Serbia will not get the candidacy despite everything that has been done," he added.

Belgrade and Pristina are trying to find a solution to the issue of Kosovo's representation in regional conferences as part of EU-brokered talks. Serbia currently refuses to attend meetings where Kosovo is described as an independent republic.

Dacic also implied that EU reservations about Belgrade's relations with Kosovo were being used as an excuse to mask growing reticence within the EU about enlargment in general.

"If the European Union does not want further enlargement, then they should say so," Dacic said.


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