“New Kosovo talks won’t jeopardize stability”

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BELGRADE -- Kosovo Ministry State Secretary Oliver Ivanović disagreed with statements made regarding Kosovo by the UK ambassador to Serbia Stephen Wordsworth. He does not agree with Wordsworth’s opinion that new Kosovo status talks would cause instability in the region and that relations between Serbia and Kosovo and Serbia’s EU integration are no longer separate issues. Ivanović said that the current unresolved status of Kosovo is what can lead to instability in Serbia, adding that this instability will last until the status issue is solved. He said that the world and Europe must realize that they cannot satisfy the Albanian side with accepting the unilateral secession of Kosovo, because it endangers the stability of Serbia. “The secession of Kosovo, the way that it has started, leads to extremist policies, we were able to see that in the past, and Europe has seen it as well. I think that in order for the Balkans to stabilize, Serbia must be stable, and it can only be stabilized with new negotiations that would lead to an acceptable solution,” Ivanović said. “Serbia finds itself in front of a great dilemma. It has taken a stance, through the words of its officials, it has said that if the question of choosing between Kosovo and EU is posed, Kosovo would be the priority. I think that at this moment, such a stance is problematic. We see that there was a large compromise made in Sarajevo, and we saw the foreign ministers of Serbia and Kosovo sit at the same table, without signs, however, but we can expect that the fight for having signs in front of them will be a part of the next phase. The most important event will occur in the coming months, which is the stance of the International Court of Justice, and I think that it will greatly influence and determine what will happen next,” political analyst Predrag Simić said. Simić added that the stances of the British ambassador are nothing new, since it was known earlier that the Kosovo question and Serbia’s EU integration are not separate issues and that they would be crossing paths sooner or later.