Dacic: Serbia has never violated the territorial integrity of any country

Serbia has never recognized a state that is not a member of the United Nations, nor has it ever violated the territorial integrity of any country, Serbian Minister of the Interior Ivica Dacic said today. He added that if the European Union's objective and condition is for Serbia to undermine its own territorial integrity, it should first adopt a resolution condemning the recognition of Kosovo before lecturing others.

Speaking after a meeting with Bulgaria's Minister of the Interior at the Gradina border crossing, and responding to a question from Bulgarian journalists regarding the European Parliament resolution referring to "Serbia's activities aimed at undermining the sovereignty of neighboring states," Dacic said that it is other countries that have violated Serbia's territorial integrity by recognizing Kosovo.

"How can anyone speak about who has violated Serbia's territorial integrity without feeling ashamed, after recognizing Kosovo as an independent state? I was born in Kosovo, and Serbia's first capital was in Kosovo – Prizren. King Milutin, whose remains rest in Sofia, also came from Kosovo," Dacic said.

He noted that Serbia, like Bulgaria, has a statehood tradition spanning many centuries.

Dacic also stressed that Serbia has no reason to challenge the sovereignty of other countries.

"Which country are you referring to when you speak of threatening sovereignty? If you mean Montenegro or Bosnia and Herzegovina, I can answer that as well. Serbia is home to 11,012 Bulgarians, while in Montenegro more than 30 percent of the population are Serbs. Do we not have the right to care about Serbs, who make up more than 30 percent of the population there, or about The Republic of Srpska, which is an integral part of the Dayton Agreement? On what legal basis did anyone have the right to recognize Kosovo as an independent state when Yugoslavia consisted of six republics?" Dacic asked.

When a journalist remarked that he was therefore claiming "the European Parliament is lying," Dacic replied that the institution adopts various resolutions, while reminding reporters that Kosovo is not a member of the United Nations.

"As for the European Parliament, it adopts all kinds of resolutions. But if the European Union's objective is to undermine Serbia's territorial integrity, and if that is a condition, then it should first adopt a resolution condemning the recognition of Kosovo before lecturing others. Kosovo is not a UN member and never will be. If you think we are fascinated by the European Parliament, I don't believe even EU citizens are, let alone those who are not members of the Union. They should focus on the situation in their own countries. They all come here, collect their daily allowances, and it does not suit them for the crisis in the Balkans to be resolved, because then the question would arise as to what they would do. Just imagine if Serbia had joined the European Union before Croatia, for example," Dacic said.

When it was pointed out that Serbia's accession to the European Union depends on meeting the required conditions, Dacic responded that the issue is not about conditions but purely about politics.

"What conditions did other countries meet before becoming EU members? Are they all models of democracy? This is a matter of politics. Communist, Tito's Yugoslavia was a candidate for associate membership in the European Community. Everything is politics, and everything is a lie. We want to join the European Union, but not at the cost of Serbia's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Period," Dacic concluded.