Kosovo No State, Serbian President Tells Jahjaga

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has told the President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, that she should not consider herself a state president since Kosovo "will never be a state", according to well founded reports in the Belgrade media.

The Belgrade daily Vecernje novosti reported on June 9 that Nikolic had told Jahjaga that the Kosovo Albanians had not fulfilled their agreements with Serbia and should change that as soon as possible. They should also not "imagine they have some kind of a state, which is not recognized by the half of the world", he added

The row reportedly took place during a regional meeting of leaders in Montenegro on June 8.

An advisor to the Serbian President, Ivan Mrkic, confirmed the incident, telling the daily paper on June 9 that Nikolic had addressed the Kosovo President over clashes that took place in Macedonia in May when armed Kosovo Albanians engaged in shootouts with the Macedonian police in the town of Kumanovo.

"The President told her that she should have at least said 'sorry' because Albanian terrorists brutally killed police officers in Kumanovo, and then they held a funeral in Pristina [for the terrorists], practically with state honours," Mrkic said.

The Kosovo President's office reacted to Nikolic's statement on June 10, stating that Nikolic appeared frustrated that Kosovo now "has equal treatment at all regional meetings.

"While he spoke about Kosovo as a non-existent state?President Jahjaga was sitting at the same table with other colleagues from the region and Austrian President Heinz Fischer... to discuss regional cooperation and strategic plans," Jahjaga's office stated.

Pristina analyst Belul Beqaj said the exchange of barbs could "complicate the dialogue between Kosovo...