Pristina official: Serbia must recognize Kosovo to join EU

Source: Danas, Tanjug

PRISTINA -- Serbia is aware that it will have to recognize "the state of Kosovo" before joining the European Union, says Kosovo's minister without portfolio Edita Tahiri.

Edita Tahiri (Tanjug, file)

Ethnic Albanians in Serbia's southern province unilaterally declared independence in early 2008, a proclamation Serbia rejected as a violation if its Constitution and territorial integrity.
Tahiri, who responsible for the dialogue with Belgrade, added that the EU-mediated Brussels dialogue "will be considered a success once its objective - EU accession of both Kosovo and Serbia - is accomplished."

"The EU has bound Serbia by law to a normalization of good-neighborly relations with Kosovo and that condition is reflected in Chapter 35 of Serbia's accession process, and Serbia is also aware that it will have to recognize the state of Kosovo before joining the EU," Tahiri said.

In a statement to Belgrade-based daily Danas, she said that, "pursuant to Kosovo's laws and the Brussels agreement, a community of Serb municipalities will not have executive or supervisory powers, but a coordination and advisory role."

"Serbia is not only inefficient in implementing the Brussels agreements, but it also violates them," she said.

"Among other things, it still supports the parallel structures in northern Kosovo, which is contrary to the Brussels agreement," Tahiri said.

She added that Serbs have "greater rights than other minorities in Kosovo and the region and compared to the rights of minorities in Serbia, in particular ethnic Albanians in the Presevo valley, the rights of the Kosovo Serbs are far greater."

Noting that she has been Kosovo's chief negotiator since the very beginning of the talks, Tahiri said that "property (issues) have never been and never will be a topic in the Brussels talks."

"Serbia's attempts to raise that issue have been met with staunch refusal from Kosovo - sovereignty over property and assets belongs to the state of Kosovo because, I stress, the International Court of Justice upheld the legality of the declaration of independence in 2010," Tahiri said.