Belgrade decides to reinstate withdrawn ambassadors to EU countries
Serbia's new government decided on Thursday to reinstate its ambassadors withdrawn from European Union countries that recognized Kosovo's independence.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, July 25, 2008
The government decided to reinstate 11 ambassadors to the EU countries in a bid to speed up Serbia's attempts to join the Union, according to the Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic.
Speaking at a news conference after the government session, Serbian Environment Minister Oliver Dulic said that the decision had been made in order to improve the country's diplomatic position and pave the way for a wider diplomatic action.
"With this, we want to balance two priorities which we have put before us - one to continue with the fight for Kosovo and the other to intensify the process of European integration," he said.
In line with the decision, Serbia will be represented again at ambassador level in all EU countries, except Poland and Denmark, for which ambassadors have not been appointed yet.
Serbian ambassadors, who were withdrawn "for consultations," will come back next week to Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Hungary, Germany, Slovenia, Sweden, and Great Britain.
The return of ambassadors to those 13 countries will also cover five EU countries where Serbia has ambassadors without a seat -- Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Ireland, and Luxembourg -- as well as Malta, which has not recognized Kosovo yet.
Serbia did not withdraw ambassadors from six EU countries which did not recognize Kosovo -- Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain.
At the moment, Serbia has no plans to return its ambassador to non-EU states that recognized Kosovo.
"A similar decision on a possible return of remaining ambassadors will not be made until the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has given its consultative view on the legality of decision on the declaration of independence of Kosovo," Dulic said.
