Partition of Kosovo only possible way: Serbian PM

BELGRADE

The partition of Kosovo is “the only possible realistic solution” to the ongoing dispute between Serbia and Kosovo, the Serbian prime minister has said, while insisting that the EU cannot force Belgrade to recognize Pristina as an independent state.

“I still think that a partition [of Kosovo] is the only possible realistic solution, and I’m sure the Albanians in Pristina would accept it,” Dacic told Belgrade-based Pink TV late Sept. 21, according to b92.net website.
“It raises the question of whether it could cause shockwaves in the region, however the fact is being avoided that a partition of Serbia would cause shockwaves,” Dacic said, adding that “a lasting solution does not exist” and that a political dialogue “can certainly take into account the legitimate interests of Serbs and [ethnic] Albanians.”

EU membership condition

“In this phase, anything that is not acceptance of the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo is acceptable [to Serbia] ... Brussels cannot force us to accept Kosovo’s independence,” the prime minister said, adding that five of the EU’s member-countries did not recognize Kosovo either.

Serbian leaders have previously dismissed speculation that the EU had set recognition of Kosovo as an independent state as a precondition for Serbia’s progress toward membership of the bloc.

Kosovo on Sept. 12 has won full sovereignty from the international community, four years after it declared independence. Serbia has dismissed the announcement as meaningless.