04:36Serbia: Country risks EU integration if it rejects Franco-German plan for Kosovo, Vucic claims
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic attended the government session on Kosovo and Metohija in Belgrade on Monday. After the session, President Vucic addressed the public and talked about the so-called Franco-German proposal about Kosovo and the meeting he had with the 'big five' last week.
Vucic said that the EU has given Serbia the choice: if Serbia doesn't accept the proposal - the investments, visa-free regime, and European path would be halted. Speaking about the choices he had to make, he said that isolation and sanctions are not options: 'as a President, I would not agree to lead the country in such a way.'
"If the choice is that on the one hand we have isolation and sanctions, one way or another, but there are no worse sanctions than withdrawing investments, there are no worse sanctions. Or, on the other hand, we accept everything immediately, which also means Kosovo in the United Nations - I am in favour of compromise as much as it's possible," Vucic outlined.
Tensions escalated between Kosovo and Serbia last month, with ethnic Serbs in the region setting up roadblocks in the north following the arrest of a police officer. Kosovo called for a NATO intervention, while Belgrade said its own forces were at 'the highest level of combat readiness'.
By the end of December, roadblocks began being dismantled and border crossings reopened.
04:36Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic attended the government session on Kosovo and Metohija in Belgrade on Monday. After the session, President Vucic addressed the public and talked about the so-called Franco-German proposal about Kosovo and the meeting he had with the 'big five' last week.
Vucic said that the EU has given Serbia the choice: if Serbia doesn't accept the proposal - the investments, visa-free regime, and European path would be halted. Speaking about the choices he had to make, he said that isolation and sanctions are not options: 'as a President, I would not agree to lead the country in such a way.'
"If the choice is that on the one hand we have isolation and sanctions, one way or another, but there are no worse sanctions than withdrawing investments, there are no worse sanctions. Or, on the other hand, we accept everything immediately, which also means Kosovo in the United Nations - I am in favour of compromise as much as it's possible," Vucic outlined.
Tensions escalated between Kosovo and Serbia last month, with ethnic Serbs in the region setting up roadblocks in the north following the arrest of a police officer. Kosovo called for a NATO intervention, while Belgrade said its own forces were at 'the highest level of combat readiness'.
By the end of December, roadblocks began being dismantled and border crossings reopened.