Dacic:Conditions for Serb participation in polls must be met

BELGRADE - BELGRADE - The Serbian government has not as yet voiced a position on Serb participation in the June 8 elections in Kosovo, but all the conditions for it must be met, Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic, who is also foreign minister, said on Sunday.

"We are not satisfied with the way Pristina is abusing what has been agreed in Brussels," Dacic told a press conference at the Foreign Ministry.

The government wants the Serbs to participate in the elections because it would be a good way to make their political role as significant as possible, Dacic said.

Serbia is maintaining a principled position on the Ukrainian crisis and Belgrade respects the territorial integrity of all UN member states, Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic, who is also foreign minister, said on Sunday.

We cannot impose restrictive measures on the Russian Federation, Dacic told reporters in the Foreign Ministry building, responding to a question whether Serbia is under pressure from the West to impose sanctions on Russia over the Ukrainian crisis.

Serbia will have to align its policy with that of the EU once it becomes an EU member, Dacic said.

"Serbia is not an EU member - if we were ready, we would already be one - and I also do not see unity among all European countries on that issue," Dacic said.

He said that Serbia has a constructive position and that there is no need to pressure it.

"We know what we want and what we do not want, as well as what we have and do not have to do," Dacic said, noting that it is "considered normal for Western countries to have excellent relations with Russia and China, while it is problematic for Serbia to have good relations with them."