Deputy PM: Kosovo issue must be solved as soon as possible

Source: Tanjug

BELGRADE -- Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dačić stated Thursday that the Kosovo issue had to be resolved as soon as possible.

Ivica Dačić (Tanjug, file)

He explained that the outcome of the crisis would otherwise be unfavorable for everybody involved.
“If the international community, Priština and Belgrade continue to turn the blind eye, I believe that the crisis will last for a long time and end unfavorably for everybody involved,” the prime minister told Tanjug.

He explained that according to a possible bad scenario Europe would constantly be unstable, Albanians would not accomplish their goal, and Serbia would also be at a loss as Serbs may get expelled from northern Kosovo and the enclaves.

Therefore, an agreement should be reached in the interest of both Serbs and Albanians, Dačić believes, adding that this would be a compromise in which all sides would get “a bit of what they did not want”.

Seeing the Kosovo problem as a territorial conflict, he remains certain that the solution lies in a just partition or correction of the administrative line or borders.

The Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) leader recalled that he had been claiming since 2006 that no government in the history of Serbia was more responsible for the situation in Kosovo than Albanian separatism, nationalism and terrorism.

“Why? It is because this was the main goal of Kosovo Albanians. Since the League of Prizren, and even before that, the sole goal of Albanians was creation of an Albanian state since they never accepted Serbia as their country. Therefore, it is very difficult to say what will be the final epilogue of the Kosovo story. This problem has been unsolved for centuries, and no one can claim to have the best possible solution,” the deputy prime minister noted.

However, he is worried about the “traditional Serbian disunity”, which could be fatal if the Belgrade authorities or any other representative of the Serbian people living in Kosovo, other parts of Serbia or even outside Serbia had different positions and stressed that the Republic of Serb Krajina was a fine example of that.

He advised the northern Kosovo Serbs to coordinate all of their moves regarding important issues, such as holding of the referendum, with Belgrade so the entire situation would not end up being detrimental to the Serbian national and state interests.

Dačić said he advocated a wise policy that would protect the Serbs in Kosovo.

He believes that conflicting positions on the barricades, attitude toward EULEX and KFOR, the dialogue with Priština and the referendum are in a way a reflection of an inter-party struggle.

“Serbia and Serbs should lead a state-building policy. Each move needs to be measured with the goal you want to achieve. Nobody is talking about whether Serbs have the right or not here, this is only about what the purpose is and what one wants to achieve. If one wants to show that Serbs do not accept the Priština authority, I think it's clear to everyone today, even to (Kosovo Prime Minister) Hashim Thaci,“ the deputy prime minister concluded.