Serbian leader tells Putin he will not trade Kosovo for EU membership

Serbian leader tells Putin he will not trade Kosovo for EU membership

Serbia is on a "long and uncertain" road to joining the European Union but will not give up its claim to Kosovo for the sake of membership

The meeting with Nikolic was also Putin's first encounter with a foreign leader from outside the former Soviet Union since he returned to Russia's presidency for a six-year term on May 7.

The pair spoke warmly of ties between their nations, which share mostly Slavic, Orthodox Christian culture, animus toward NATO over its 1999 bombing campaign against Milosevic's government and opposition to the independence of Kosovo.

"We see Serbia as our spiritual brothers," said Putin, who met Nikolic on the sidelines of a congress of the dominant United Russia party just outside the Kremlin.

Nikolic told Putin that "Serbia is a partner of Russia in the Balkans" and said he would protect the interests of Serbia and Russia. But Nikolic also offered further assurance that he wants Serbia to join the EU.

"Serbia is on the road to the EU. It is a long and uncertain road. We will order our country according to the rules that exist in the EU," Nikolic told Putin, according to Russian news agency Itar-Tass and Serbia's Tanjug.

He added that he has "not heard there exists the condition that Serbia should recognise Kosovo. We cannot do that, even if it meant breaking off negotiations at that very moment."

Sources:
reuters