Dacic: Pristina's request for EU membership is for internal political use in Kosovo

Today, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivica Dacic, when asked about Pristina's announcement that it would apply for Kosovo's membership in the EU, said that this required the consensus of "who is not in the EU", which was why he believed that it was a political-marketing move for internal political use in Kosovo, RTV reports.

"Just a month ago, I said that we had had information that Pristina would apply for EU membership. We believe that such a move is doubly bad. First, because it is clear that there is no unified position regarding the status of Kosovo, that is, that the five countries do not recognize Kosovo and that so far it has not been recorded that anyone has received the status of a candidate for membership, and the issue of status has not been resolved, and secondly because, in the conditions of absolute non-compliance with all agreements by Pristina, it is impossible for anyone to think about it," Dacic said.

Dacic said that it was almost impossible for us that anyone would accept that under these conditions when he said, it was clear that Albin Kurti's behavior was one of the main destabilizing factors in the region.

"That will certainly happen tomorrow by handing over that request to the Czech presidency," Dacic said.

He added that it depended on the Czech presidency how European officials would treat it further - whether it would enter into some procedure or would wait for the next chairman.

"That is not known yet, but I am sure from the conversations we had with the countries that do not recognize Kosovo, and the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peter Szijjarto, told me the same, that they were against it for all the reasons I had mentioned and that, if there had been a vote about it, would vote against," Dacic said.

He added that even if Pristina's request entered the procedure, which was possible, that procedure implied that the European Commission would make a statement about it in the following period of approximately one year.

"But, in the end, it requires a consensus, which doesn’t exist in the EU. That's why I think it's more of a political and marketing move for internal political use in Kosovo," Dacic believes.

Escobar's statement is not good

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivica Dacic, stated that he did not know why anyone would be against what was written in the UN Resolution 1244, and pointed out that it was not particularly good for someone to talk about which UN resolutions could and should be applied and which ones could not, because then, he said, there was selectivity and double standards.

Dacic thus commented on the statement of the US special representative for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, who said that the US categorically opposed the return of Serbian forces to the north of Kosovo.

Answering the questions of journalists at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dacic said that Serbia firmly adhered to all international obligations that it had undertaken or that, as he said, had been imposed on us.

He reminded that according to the UN Resolution 1244 there was a possibility of the return of Serbian forces to Kosovo.

"We think that the situation should be considered objectively. Regardless of individual opinions, it should not be an obstacle to discuss it in a serious way within the UN system, so such statements are certainly not good, neither his nor Minister Baerbock’s statement", Dacic concluded.