Vucic: Recognizing Kosovo, Ceding U.N. Membership Are Our lines in the Sand

Aleksandar Vucic, Belgrade, Jan.4 2023 (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Jan. 13 that he had told Derek Chollet, a counselor at the U.S. Department of State, that any form of recognition of Kosovo as independent, formal or informal, and ceding membership in the U.N. were lines in the sand that Belgrade would not cross.

Vucic said he had discussed the so-called Franco-German plan for Kosovo with the U.S. diplomat at a Jan. 12 meeting in Belgrade. "We pointed out what we had already sent to the architects of that missive in our paper, where our lines in the sand are. Any form of recognition of independence, formal or informal, or ceding membership in the U.N. -- that we won't and cannot discuss, and that's an integral part of the plan. Everything else -- and I'm not saying it's good, we can discuss," Vucic told reporters in Belgrade.

He added that he was thankful that the U.S. administration was now insisting on the implementation of the Brussels Agreement. "It's good that the [Community of Serb Municipalities] has to be formed now," Vucic said.