"Recognition fairytale, UN membership mirage" - FM on Kosovo

In an interview with the public broadcaster in the province of Vojvodina, RTV, cited by the Beta agency, Dacic said the possibility of Serbia accepting Kosovo's UN membership was a mirage.

"It would be good if a lasting solution were to be found. But when they talk about a solution for Kosovo in the West, they mostly think of us accepting the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo, and that's a fairytale. For Serbia to recognize Kosovo, for Kosovo to get a chair in the UN, for us to suggest to Russia to vote in favor of that hat's not a fairytale, that's a mirage. That won't happen," the minister said.

Although the decision is made by the Security Council, Dacic continued, Kosovo's UN membership really depends on Serbia's position - because Russia and China will respect Serbia's position.

Asked whether his stance differs from that of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic - who said that Kosovo's membership in the UN could be considered if Serbia gets something in return - Dacic said that "all these variants can be discussed if there is a permanent solution, if there is a deal between Belgrade and Pristina."

"We want this issue to be solved as soon as possible. But if the other side thinks that it has been solved, that we only need to recognize Kosovo's independence and in this way supposedly ingratiate ourselves to the West in order join the EU, I do not see it as a path that Serbia can accept. And that's why I said that these are fairytales," Dacic said.

Speaking about the draft EU strategy for the Western Balkans - which states that the EU will ask Serbia to reach a comprehensive agreement on normalization of relations with Kosovo by the beginning of 2019 if it wants to join by 2025 - Dacic said that if this...