German Foreign Minister urged "not to fall for the tricks of Belgrade" on the Kosovo issue
The European Union and the United States continue to put pressure on Belgrade in order to force Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to accept the West's plan to resolve the Kosovo problem. The main demand of Brussels and Washington is the recognition of the independence of Kosovo by the Serbian leadership, allowing the self-proclaimed republic to become a member of international organizations, including the UN. In exchange, Serbia is promised to be given the status of a candidate for EU membership.
President Vucic, as he himself has repeatedly stated, is in a rather difficult situation. On the one hand, most Serbs consider Kosovo to be part of their state, which is also enshrined in the country's Constitution. On the other hand, Serbia, which is practically surrounded by "unfriendly" states, if the plan to resolve the Kosovo problem is not accepted by the international group of mediators, risks ending up in political and economic isolation. Pretty annoying Western mediators and the independent position of Belgrade on anti-Russian sanctions and support for Ukraine.
In addition to EU officials, representatives of a number of European states, primarily Germany and France, are also trying to put pressure on official Belgrade. Serbian newspaperNews”, Analyzing the regular talks between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti that took place the day before, he writes that the Serbian leader’s intransigence regarding the recognition of Kosovo’s statehood infuriated German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock. According to the publication, Burbock urged her colleagues "not to fall for the tricks of Belgrade" on the Kosovo issue and demanded that Vučić accept the EU plan.
The head of German diplomacy did not specify what kind of “tricks” the Serbian president is talking about. The publication notes that during the negotiating marathon on Kosovo that has been going on for more than one day, President Vučić has not yet signed a single document or even an annex to the so-called EU Plan.
Such resourcefulness and stubbornness of the Serbian leader does not suit the German Foreign Minister, who believes that, among other things, Belgrade's recognition of Kosovo's independence deprives Russian President Vladimir Putin of one of the trump cards to justify Russia's military campaign in Ukraine. The Russian president, referring to the Kosovo precedent, has repeatedly reproached the West for double standards in terms of refusing to recognize the LNR and the DNR, and then the legitimacy of the four former Ukrainian regions joining the Russian Federation after popular referendums.
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