Vucic to VOA: Dialogue To Resume, Recognition of Kosovo’s Independence Impossible

Aleksandar Vucic/BETAPHOTO/EMIL VAS)

Under the current conditions, it is impossible for Serbia to recognize Kosovo as an independent state, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said in an interview with Voice of America (VOA), adding it is necessary to resume the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue for to reach a compromise solution,

Asked whether he would be the politician who would recognize Kosovo’s independence, Vucic replied: “We can discuss any issue only in the light of a compromise. I will never sign a document that gives everything to the Albanians and nothing to Serbia. At the moment, I am the president of Serbia, and you may find another one who would settle for that with no compromise, only by accepting ultimatums.”  

In the interview given after his meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Matthew Palmer, deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs with responsibility for the Western Balkans and the Aegean, and Atlantic Council Executive Vice President Damon Wilson, Vucic said that according to the U.S. officials, Washington had been against the tariffs on the goods from Serbia since they had been imposed by Pristina.

“It is not only an unlawful act, but is also at odds with public international law, the standards of civilization and the principles the U.S. relies on, which include a free market and free flow of goods, capital and services, that is, the basic principles of the modern world. Can the U.S. exert greater pressure (on Pristina to lift the tariffs), I am sure it can. Will it happen – I believe that now everybody is waiting for snap elections to be called and held in Kosovo,” Vucic said.

He added that Pristina could be subject to greater pressure to start a comprehensive dialogue with Belgrade in December, after the formation of a new Pristina government.

“I have said that Belgrade is ready to resume the dialogue the moment the tariffs are lifted, because basic conditions must be in place and trust established between the international community and all of us in terms that we can discuss some issues and also reach an agreement. If you impose the tariffs in the way you did, then such trust absolutely does not exist,” Vucic noted.

The Serbian president added he expected Belgrade to be subject to very strong pressure in relation to Kosovo.

Vucic further said that the American were aware that he was a man “who does not regard compromise as a defeat, who is rational and who makes the most out of everything for his country and people, and also a man who is more interested in Serbia than his own political future.”

“It is why they talk to me and why you can hear it from different sides, although earlier they would say ‘we cannot guarantee to Vucic (Serbia’s) EU membership in 2025,’ now you can hear it from several sides. At the moment, our situation is difficult, but for certain things that we have been previously told that we cannot get, I am today sure that we can get them. Is it something close to our dreams or something we desire – no, it is trillions of kilometers away. But, is it more than what we were offered some seven, eight years ago – yes, it’s something more,” Vucic noted.