Serbia has never recognized any state that is not a member of the United Nations (UN) and has never violated the territorial integrity of any country.
According to Report‘s Balkan bureau, Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dačić made the remarks in response to a Bulgarian media question about the European Parliament (EP) accusing Serbia of undermining the territorial integrity of other states.
“It is clear that we have no intention of questioning the sovereignty of any country, nor do we do so. I don’t know which country’s sovereignty you mean. If you refer to Montenegro or Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia does not act against them. Serbs make up more than 30% of Montenegro’s population. Do we not have the right to be concerned about the rights of those Serbs, or to pay attention to Republika Srpska, which is part of the Dayton Agreement?” Dačić said.
He also stressed Kosovo’s lack of UN membership: “When Yugoslavia consisted of six republics, on what basis could anyone recognize Kosovo as an independent state? Kosovo is not a UN member and never will be.”
The minister further emphasized that EU membership is a political decision, it does not matter whether a country meets the conditions or not: “What conditions did other countries meet when they joined the EU? Are they models of democracy? This is politics. Communist Yugoslavia was even a candidate for EU associate membership. Everything is politics, everything is lies. We want to join the EU, but not at the expense of Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
