Djuric in Chisinau: Kosovo Will Not Become Council of Europe Member

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric (BETAPHOTO/MINISTARSTVO SPOLJNIH POSLOVA SRBIJE)

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric said on May 15, after his speech at a session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Chisinau, Moldova, that "the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty prevailed" at the conference and that Kosovo will not become a CoE member.

He said the discussion was "challenging and heated" and that "certain European ministers openly called for Pristina's membership" in the CoE. He went on to say that "the danger has not been averted," as more than two-thirds of member states recognize Kosovo as independent.

The minister recounted that he stressed in his address that "a government that systematically violates the political, collective, human and cultural rights of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija -- meaning the government of Albin Kurti -- should have no seat at the table of the Council of Europe." "We cannot affect the past, but we can and must influence the future, which should be European in Kosovo and Metohija, for Serbs and Albanians alike," a press release from the Foreign Ministry read.

Djuric called for the urgent admission of the entire region into the European Union and opening the Schengen Area to allow freedom of movement, work and business. He added that he held a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the conference.