Serbia rejects Western proposal on Kosovo

Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic revealed that Paris and Berlin had called on Belgrade to recognize the breakaway region as a UN member

Serbia has turned down a proposal on Kosovo put forward by France and Germany, the country’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivica Dacic has revealed to journalists. The plan had called on Belgrade not to oppose the breakaway region’s accession to the UN as a member state, in exchange for the EU’s financial support and a fast-track to membership of the bloc. 

In an interview with Serbia’s Novosti media outlet, which was published on Sunday, Dacic said: “In the plan of Scholz and Macron, Serbia is offered to accept Kosovo in the United Nations in exchange for a hazy European perspective.” 

However, this proposal is unacceptable to Belgrade as it is based on the premise that “Kosovo’s independence is already a done deal,” the diplomat noted. 

According to the minister, Serbia’s National Security Council voted unanimously to reject the plan suggested by Berlin and Paris. Dacic pointed out that Serbia is willing to hold constructive discussions and that it has its own proposals aimed at reaching a compromise. The recognition of Kosovo as a UN member state, however, while formally different from official recognition, would for all practical purposes mean exactly that – something Belgrade cannot possibly agree to, the top Serbian diplomat clarified. He also acknowledged that Serbian officials are fully aware of the fact that they will “never get a solution that will be ideal for us.”

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In mid-October, President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic confirmed the existence of the Franco-German proposal on Kosovo. He said at the time that the Serbian leadership would “have to discuss and think about it,” adding, however, that Belgrade would not agree to Kosovo becoming a member of the UN as this would run counter to Serbia’s constitution.  

Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla-Schwarz, in turn, claimed that the Serbian head of state had misrepresented the plan and had told only “ten percent of the truth.”  

The proposal in question was first mentioned by the Albanian Post in mid-September.  

According to that report, Serbia was supposed to “actually accept the reality of Kosovo as an independent state,” which would be a prerequisite for Belgrade’s and Pristina’s potential accession to the EU.