TANJUG - Dačić: We are trying to get the EU countries that did not recognize Kosovo to challenge the Pristina’s candidacy

In addition to arrival of numerous officials, December 15 is important for Serbia because it is a possible date for Pristina to submit application for EU membership, Dačić told Tanjug

“We are also working on inviting all EU member states that did not recognise Kosovo to challenge the issue from the aspect of status, that is, that there are no conditions to discuss it,” Dačić said.

The minister added that the Czech Republic has an important role in the whole process as the country that currently presides over the EU.

"We will see if the request will be rejected or sent for consideration, but it all depends on the presiding of the Council of the EU,” said Dačić, adding that talks are also underway with Hungary, which, although it did recognise Kosovo, does not vote for Kosovo.

“We are doing our best to make our views heard and to oppose double standards. If Escobar is in Kosovo, I really don’t think that (Albin) Kurti will make major incidents while he is there. The goal is to de-escalate the problem,” said Dačić.

When asked when the notes of the countries that have withdrawn their recognition will be presented, Dačić said that he will discuss that with the president when the time comes.

"We will wait for Kosovo’s application when it comes to the EU. We adhere to the Washington Agreement, but the EU and CE membership candidacy show that Kosovo does not adhere to that agreement”, Dačić said and added “what is certain is that at this moment Kosovo can count on 83 votes out of 193 UN member states”.

Dačić reminded that Serbia is expecting several very important visits this week, including the Ministers for Europe of Great Britain and France, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal, Gabriel Escobar, Miroslav Lajčák and representatives of France and Germany.

“A visit by the advisor to the Secretary of State Blinken (Derek Scholl) will most likely be postponed,” Dačić said.

He also announced that the Government should adopt a request on Thursday, for the return of our army and police to Kosovo, based on Resolution 1244.

“It is important to preserve the peace, and Serbia will not be the culprit for any incidents, nor will it provoke any kind of intervention,” Dačić said.

He emphasised that Serbia calls for the respect of all international agreements, including Resolution 1244, the Brussels Agreement, and above all that the situation in Kosovo and Metohija cannot be resolved by unilateral acts, as Kurti is trying to do, because Kosovo police has no business in the north without the consent of Serbs.

“We hope that no situation will arise that will prompt Serbia to consider other moves,” he said and reminded that Serbia has three red lines. He emphasised that Belgrade will not discuss the ZSO again, that Serbia does not consider or want to recognise the so-called independent Kosovo or allow it to become a member of the UN, and that attacks on Serbs in Kosovo must stop.

“We are ready to talk to resolve all problems peacefully. Kurti is the main source of the problem, and the international community should take that seriously,” Dačić told Tanjug.

Speaking about the situation in Kosovo, Dačić said that Kurti believes that great tensions that exist in Kosovo are a shortcut to solving the Kosovo issue.

“It is obvious that his idea is to start a series of small fires with the desire to either force urgency in finding a solution that would be acceptable to him or to somehow buy time without considering the essence of the issue”, Dačić explained. He added that even the representatives of Quinta, who are coming on December 17, will not be able to ignore the current situation.

“It will not be a matter of just some documents or proposals, but there are fires that he started that must be put out.,” Dačić told TV K1.

He said that Serbia is interested in what Annalena Baerbock has to say because she is the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, but added that she must also be aware that Angela Merkel supported the ZSO.

“Baerbock should know that they cannot say that they respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine and do not respect the territorial integrity of Serbia. She should be aware that her statements have consequences,” Dačić said, and added that the main problem with Kosovo is that Kurti does not respect the Brussels Agreement, and that the big powers are “playing dumb”.

"If Baerbock or anyone else says that the Serbian army and police cannot return to Kosovo and that Resolution 1244 should be ignored, what should we respect then? Should we ignore the Washington Agreement? She thinks that we should not respect anything except what Kurti says,” Dačić said and emphasised that Kurti must first be reasoned with.

He added that the international community is also not happy with this situation and that they would like to see everything go smoothly.

“Shortcut solutions are being sought to resolve this issue. We cannot allow those from Kosovo to use their false statehood to occupy the North. As long as the UN exists, Resolution 1244 must be valid. They would have abolished that resolution a long time ago if they had a way to do it,” he said, adding that the West only refers to the parts of Resolution 1244 that suit them.