Bundestag Member: Serbia Shouldn’t Be Blocking Kosovo’s Membership in International Institutions

Josip Juratovic (Beta/Milos Miskov)

A member of the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, from the Social Democratic Party, Josip Juratovic, has said that Serbia should not make blocking Kosovo’s membership in international institutions its priority as through international institutions Kosovo would have to respect international rules also in relation to the Serbs.

Speaking to the Jan. 24 issue of Belgrade daily Nova, Juratovic said that “without regulated relations between Kosovo and Serbia, neither of the two countries can join the EU.” He added that the leaders of both countries “should tell this to their citizens, because any delays may prolong their political existence, but jeopardizes their people not only in terms of war and peace, but also in terms of daily life.”  

Juratovic stressed that “the best example is the two Germanies before the fall of the Berlin Wall,” which had never recognized each other, but were members of the international community. “The time will come when modern democratic societies will be built in both, Serbia and Kosovo, and just before joining the EU, solutions will be found easily. Who is any longer interested in the border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia after Croatia joined the Schengen Area,” Juratovic noted.

Juratovic also said that “it would be more important for Serbia to improve its reputation in the world, which is terrible.”