By Xinhua
Brdo, Slovenia : Serbia remains committed to the path of integration into the European Union (EU), but not at the price of Kosovo, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said on Friday.
“Despite all the challenges and despite all the difficulties that we are going through, we remain committed to the path of European integration,” Jeremic told reporters after a short breakfast meeting with his EU counterparts, the first time for them to talk face to face since a majority of EU countries recognized Kosovo’s self-declared independence, which angered Belgrade.
Jeremic said Serbia will continue to fight against the secession of Kosovo by peaceful means.
“Serbia has not changed its mind. Serbia is saying time and again that we are defending our sovereignty and territorial integrity, and we are going to employ all political and diplomatic means,” Jeremic said.
“Serbia is not going to use force, but Serbia will not go away diplomatically and politically in the fight to preserve its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added.
The EU has been telling Serbia either to choose the way of European integration or face isolation. Saturday’s meeting was held at a crucial time since Serbs were scheduled to go to polls on May 11, a key test of which direction Serbia will head to.
“On May 11, we will come face to face with what I consider to be the most important election in Serbia since October 2000,” Jeremic told his EU counterparts, adding the future of the Balkan country will be determined by the people.
Jeremic warned that no Serb’s choice will be unaffected by the issue of Kosovo.
“An overwhelming majority in Serbia is not prepared to give up our sovereignty over Kosovo,” he said.
In an apparent effort to boost pro-European camp among Serbian voters, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn raised the hope on Friday that a visa-free travel to the EU could be soon possible for Serbs.
“We hope we should be able to conclude such a road map for visa-free travel with Serbia before the end of April,” which is ahead of the crucial election in Serbia, he said.
Jeremic said his country is willing to sign a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) immediately. The signing of the SAA between the EU and a candidate nation marks the first formal step for the latter to embark on the road toward EU membership.
However, Dutch and Belgian foreign ministers warned ahead of the meeting that they would oppose any rush move to hand down EU membership to Serbia before the Serbian government fulfills the requirement of full cooperation with the U.N. war crime tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
Jeremic said on Saturday that Serbia is cooperating fully with the U.N. tribunal by delivering a list of prominent war crime suspects to The Hague, including former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
But some European countries are demanding the handover of the remaining fugitives, notably Bosnian Serb wartime army chief Ratko Mladic.