Tadic: Nobody can condition Serbia’s EU integration with recognition of Kosovo
Serbian President Boris Tadic said in Berlin on Thursday that “nobody can condition Serbia’s EU integration with a recognition of Kosovo”
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, October 03, 2008
Tadic also told reporters that he expects the International Court of Justice, ICJ, to declare itself "in favor of Serbia's legitimate interests".
The UN General Assembly will on October 8 decide whether to send Belgrade's resolution on the legality of the Kosovo Albanians' unilateral declaration of independence to the ICJ.
The president also acknowledged as "fact" that there are politicians in Europe who think Serbia cannot join the EU without recognizing Kosovo first.
"We are taking into consideration pressures and threats, but we are behaving rationally. Neither myself nor the political structure that I represent can be blackmailed, that we cannot join the EU without recognizing Kosovo," he said.
Tadiæ also told reporters that he expects German and EU position on the ICJ initiative to be "utterly fair".
"Any other decision would be completely outside the realm of logic," he was quoted as saying.
The president added that he believed "everyone will wish to support the resolution, in order to see what the ICJ answer will be".
