tanjug.rs <https://www.tanjug.rs/english/politics/169201/vucic-we-adhere-to-un-charter-eu-admission-a-political-decision/vest>
Vucic: We adhere to UN Charter, EU admission a political decision Tanjug 14–17 minutes _____ PRAGUE - Speaking at the GLOBSEC Forum in Prague, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Friday Serbia's EU admission was, above all, a political issue and not merit-based, and that the Kosovo-Metohija issue was the obstacle to the admission as Serbia adhered to the UN Charter and UNSCR 1244 - under which Kosovo-Metohija is a part of Serbia - and noted that Belgrade is not ready to recognise the province as independent. Vucic was addressing a panel titled Seizing the Moment: Forging Lasting Partnerships in the Neighbourhood. Asked what was holding Serbia up on the EU path, Vucic said much work was still ahead and that EU officials constantly talked about a merit-based approach. But that has never been the case - if you remember the situation with Romania and Bulgaria, it has always been a political decision and not something that is based on merit, he said. More work is ahead of us regarding the issue of rule of law, and we have a regional problem with Pristina - it is a very difficult issue, it is difficult to solve it, Vucic also said. For Serbia, the issue of EU accession is slightly different compared to other countries, he said. It is about Kosovo - as you know, we adhere to the UN Charter and UNSCR1244, under which Kosovo is a part of Serbia, and 22 of the 27 EU member states recognise Kosovo, while five of the 27 do not, and that is the problem, Vucic said, adding that Belgrade is not ready to recognise Kosovo. We support the territorial integrity of Ukraine - when we talk about that and about violations of UN principles and about principles of international law, then it is difficult to explain to anyone in Serbia - not me or the politicians in power, but anyone in Serbia - what is going on with the territorial integrity of Serbia, Vucic said. UNSCR1244 is still in force but no one cares, because there have also been other political interests that are much more important to Western allies than the UN Charter and international public law, he noted. -- http:www.antic.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SERBIAN NEWS NETWORK" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to senet+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/senet/022d01dbdc78%24b9961a90%242cc24fb0%24%40gmail.com.
