The Prime Minister of Serbia, Miloš Vučević, is in Athens, where he met with the outgoing EU envoy for dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajčak, and then participated in an international conference dedicated to peace and sustainable development.
After arriving in the Greek capital, Vučević met with Lajcak, this was also confirmed by the Serbian government, but without giving details about the meeting itself, as well as about the topics they discussed.
In the late hours of yesterday afternoon, Vučević participated in the International Conference “Peace and Sustainable Development”.
He addressed the panel “Perspectives of membership of the Western Balkans and their importance for the future of Europe. Are we in a period of stagnation or are we building a new moment?”.
In addition to Vucevic and the representatives of Albania, Greece and North Macedonia, Lajcak also participated in this conference. The focus of the panelists’ speech was on the region’s path to the European Union.
In addition to underlining that Serbia is committed to this path, Vučević touched on the issue of Kosovo several times, saying that Kosovo is the most difficult issue for Serbs.
“However, I think that with European integration and partners and institutions from the EU, using their tools, knowledge and experience, we can be closer to reconciliation on the ground” This is important, Vučević said.
He has claimed that the EU will be complete only when it accepts the countries of the Western Balkans, but that the main question is being asked – we are discussing the perspective of membership or the European future, and in the countries of the Western Balkans “five states and a province”!
“When we talk about the Western Balkans, we can only talk about five states and one province in terms of international law.”
Asked about Serbia’s relations with Russia and China, Vučević tries to justify himself with the claim of their role in relation to the Kosovo issue.
“We have a specific position and we must continue relations with Russia and China, because of their votes in the UN Security Council on the issue of Kosovo, don’t forget that,” he said.
“We are simply asking you, if you all talk about the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, why is there a problem when we from Serbia mention the same issue? How is it possible that when Serbia mentions Kosovo, they get a response: don’t mention this, look to the future, this is a sui generis case”. The Western Balkans, we can only talk about five states and one province in terms of international law” .
