Dacic: Some countries do not vote for Kosovo in international forums, even though they have not withdrawn their recognition

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivica Dacic, said that Kosovo, out of 193 UN members, could count on only 83 votes, BBC reports.

"This does not mean that all those countries withdrew their recognition; Egypt or Hungary recognized Kosovo, but they do not vote for Kosovo in international forums, even though they did not withdraw their recognition," Dacic added.

He notes that the campaign to withdraw recognition of Kosovo slowed down after the Washington Agreement of Serbia and Kosovo, signed in 2020 with US President Donald Trump, which put a moratorium on both campaigns - Kosovo's entry into international institutions and withdrawal of recognition.

"If Pristina continues with the policy of submitting applications for membership in international organizations, we will be forced to deal with that," Dacic announced.

Dacic says that Serbia will harmonize its visa policy with both the white and black Schengen lists.

"We have visa waiver agreements with many countries that go beyond these issues - like Tunisia or Cuba that date back to the 1960s. For us, it is not controversial, we will harmonize our visa policy with both white and black Schengen lists - that is, even where some are allowed to enter the EU without visas, but they are not allowed to enter Serbia," he says.

Dacic claims that such decisions by Serbia will not affect the increase in support for Kosovo's independence.

"We never negotiated with the countries that the withdrawal of recognition was a one-time decision, but we talked about long-term relations, since the era of the Non-Aligned Movement. If you think that we have greater capacities for the trade than the great Western powers or Islamic countries, which forced those countries to recognize Kosovo, then you are overestimating our position," Dacic added.

The head of the diplomacy states that the process of withdrawing the recognition of Kosovo involved many, even unexpected actors.

"It was a state policy approved by President Vucic, and we implemented that policy, not only me but also Nikola Selakovic, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in coordination with other state bodies, and above all I mean the Security Intelligence Agency," Dacic says.

Dacic says that he had an insight into the recent Franco-German, and more recently European secret proposal for the solution of the relations between Serbia and Kosovo.

“There were multiple versions, suggestions, and corrections, so that is not disputed. I am not participating in the negotiations the team is headed by President Vucic and his associates, primarily from the Office for Kosovo and Metohija," Dacic pointed out.

He adds that the proposer requests that nothing should be shown to the public until there is something on which an agreement could be reached.

"That's why nothing was ever published from our side, unlike the Albanian media that published some versions that turned out to be incorrect," Dacic says and adds that the published versions contained dates and deadlines that the negotiators did not mention.

Dacic points out that Serbia have never decided whether to accept or reject some documents, but have been discussing what is acceptable and what is not.

"We will continue discussions on those proposals as well, and our red lines were also stated by President Vucic, we cannot talk about new agreements without respecting previously signed ones such as the agreement on the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, it is unacceptable for Kosovo to be a member of the UN, while the third red line is physical safety and security for Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija," he says.

Regarding the situation in the north of Kosovo, Dacic says that he is sure that while Albin Kurti is the prime minister, the negotiators will not deal with documents on the overall solution, but with putting out the fire.

"And it would be good if they put out the main fire because the biggest arsonist is Kurti," Dacic concluded.

Dacic also says that the issue of sanctions against Russia is inseparable from the solution to the Kosovo issue; Russia has often been a key representative of Serbia's positions in international institutions and an obstacle to Kosovo's admission to international organizations.

"If only someone from the West would say 'we will not push Kosovo into the United Nations, so you don't need Russia', but they say 'we will push Kosovo into the UN, and you ought to impose sanctions on Russia'." And then what should we do if Russia did not want to put a veto in the United Nations", Dacic asked.