Dačić: We seek a political agreement on open issues

At a conference with the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Szijjártó in Budapest, Dačić said that Serbia believes that the issue of Kosovo and Metohija can only be resolved by compromise and that it is very sensitive to the fact that it is approached in accordance with the policy of double standards when it comes to territorial integrity.

“Territorial integrity is either a principle or it is not. One cannot stand for it in one case and oppose it in another. When we discuss it, we think that everyone knows that, but maybe not everyone in Europe knows it, and maybe they don’t care much about the fact that Yugoslavia was a federal state made up of six federal units, each of them allowed to declare independence,” Dačić said.

Dačić reminded that the former SFRY consisted of Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia, and that Serbia had two provinces.

“Hungarians are clear about what Vojvodina is. Well, it is the same with Kosovo. According to the constitution, Kosovo could not declare independence without the consent of Belgrade. It is illegal. Someone can accept it and not. At the moment, 106 out of 193 world countries do not recognize Kosovo. Kosovo can count on 84 votes at most in the UN General Assembly,” Dačić said.

He pointed out that the Kosovo issue has not been resolved, and that double standards are wrong.

“At the agenda of the General Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, point 1 is Ukraine and the violation of territorial integrity in Ukraine, seeking condemnation of Russia and imposing sanctions, and then point 2 is the admission of Kosovo to the Council of Europe. There is no logic to this, it is not normal, and that is unacceptable for us,” Dačić said.

He emphasised that until a political solution is reached, the admission of Kosovo to the CE is unacceptable, because only independent states can be admitted.

“Secondly, how can Kosovo be admitted to the EU when there are five countries that do not recognise it? “Dačić asked.

He recalled that when they recently spoke, Szijjártó had told him that Hungary would not support admission to the SE before an agreement was reached, and that he assumed that this position is shared by all in the EU.

“The issue of status should come after reaching an agreement,” Dačić said, and reminded that the Brussels Agreement was signed 2013 and has not been implemented for nine years.

“Establishing ZSO was agreed, and now Kurti says that he has no intention of doing that. How can we discuss the next step when someone is disputing something that was signed and guaranteed by the EU? It was also said that ROSU would not enter areas inhabited solely by Serbs – so why are they arresting Serbs and injuring Serbian children on Christmas Day? These are the reasons why Serbia asked for the army to be deployed to help ensure security. If there is no need for that, the responsibility lies solely with KFOR,” Dačić said.

Source: Tanjug