President says he was "very hurt" by some Kosovo remarks

"Its not at all simple. There is still a lot of hatred but we need to overcome it and try to find a compromise," Vucic said, and continued:

"If you ask me whether I am optimistic, I am not. But we're still going to invest large amounts of effort to reach a compromise. I cannot guarantee that the other side will do the same."

Kosovo is the great hurdle that the Serbian president will have to overcome, the Madrid-based daily said in an article published under the headline, "Putin is Serbia's friend but he respects our path towards the EU"- adding that the region declared unilateral independence from Serbia ten years ago, "and the latter still claims the territory as its own" - while "European nations feel that a bilateral agreement between both is a basic requirement towards EU membership."

According to the article, Vucic is also facing "significant reticence to the idea of EU membership back home" with Orthodox Church, "which considers Kosovo to be the heart of Serbia and the spiritual cradle of its faith" saying that if the price to pay for EU membership is to drop sovereignty claims over Kosovo, then it is not worth it.

"They hurt very much," Vucic said of these remarks. "But the debate is not about with or without Kosovo... it's about reaching an agreement and a solution."

As for his long-term vision, he said the following: "I think that when you look at the future, what you want is enough jobs for young people. Otherwise there will be no future for us. We need to put our clashes, our fights behind us."

Vucic is also quoted as believing that an armed conflict over Kosovo or any of the ethnic tensions that still exist in the region "would naturally kill Serbia."

"We have had many...