Dacic: Campaign to withdraw recognitions of so-called Kosovo meant to force Pristina to compromise

The foreign minister recalled that he recently visited the Pacific region and that Serbia had no diplomatic relations with most states there

Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic says that Serbia, with its campaign to get countries to withdraw their recognition, isn't working against so-called Kosovo - but wants to force Pristina to some kind of compromise.

"They don't want compromise, they say, '116 countries have recognized us'. Now let's see how many have done it? Pacolli's complained to me that I ruined his career and asked me why I was doing all this around the recognitions. We are not working against Kosovo, but to force them to make some compromise," Dacic told TV Happy.

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He stated that he recently visited the Pacific region and that with most states there Serbia had no diplomatic relations.

Diplomatic relations have been established with the state of Nauru in September, but still don't exist with states such as Samoa and Vanuatu.

"I can't help but wonder what those guys (in power) before us were doing. If you don't have diplomatic relations, it means that you have no contacts with that country, that you don't exist for that country. They recognize Kosovo, and don't recognize us. We allowed it. And this is not the situation in the Pacific alone," Dacic emphasized, adding work is also being done with UNESCO and Interpol members - which are not states but represent territories, and which voted in favor of Kosovo joining those organizations - to now switch to the "Serb side."

Asked if the Maldives would withdraw recognition, Dacic recalled that an affair had been broken out in their parliament, around allegations that Kosovo paid two million dollars to the country's foreign minister in exchange for recognition.

"If somebody thinks we're going to pay two million for a withdrawal of the recognition, that's not how we talk. The one who recognized Kosovo is preparing to run against the current president of the Maldives, and that is where our interests overlap," he concluded.

(Telegraf.rs)