Jeremic: Life Can Be Made Normal without Recognizing Kosovo

Vuk Jeremic People's Party (Beta/Dragan Gojic)

People's Party president Vuk Jeremic has said that a way to make the life of all residents of the region normal, including those who "live on the territory of the southern Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija," "can and must" be found, noting that Pristina's membership in the U.N. is not "the pre-condition for that normality."

"If circumstances change in Serbia, I believe we will be able to make life in the region normal without recognizing the independence of so-called Kosovo," Jeremic said at a lecture he delivered at Osaka University titled "U.N., Serbia and the Kosovo Issue," co-organized by the Global Peace Association of Japan and the Academic Council on the United Nations System office in Tokyo, the People's Party said in a press release on March 26.

Asked about the possibility of Serbia recognizing Kosovo as an independent state, Jeremic said his opinion was that "that step is impossible."

"Serbia is currently not in a very favorable position, but not because of the unresolved Kosovo issue, but because of the almost complete suspension of democratic order in the country. We are sadly no longer a democratic state. Aside from Belarus, we are the only country in Europe without opposition in the parliament," Jeremic added.

Asked about the possibility of the Kosovo issue being resolved with an exchange in territory, Jeremic replied that such a solution would be extremely dangerous due to the risk of a domino effect in the region, and that North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were likely to be the most affected.