"The government is facing major challenges and is under big pressure over Kosovo-Metohija"

In an interview to Radio Television of Serbia, Nikolic said that Serbia should have a new platform for talks “because saying that we will never recognize and accept KiM's independence is no longer enough”.However, the president underscored that “one who wants to seize KiM from Serbia must think of the cost”, or repercussions.

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Nikolic said that the government is facing major challenges and is under big pressure over Kosovo-Metohija, and added that “certain European officials are now presenting requirements, in a somewhat softer or harsher way, that they did not state previously.”

“This is a situation in which one should carefully consider all aspects,” the president said, adding that is exactly what he is doing when drafting the platform."

Nikolic believes that Serbian citizens should not be asked in a referendum whether independent Kosovo should exist or not, as they would rather give up on the EU entry than Kosovo-Metohija.

The president said that it is difficult to discuss Serbia's EU entry with the same people you discuss the issue of Kosovo-Metohija with, and have Pristina's representatives come to Brussels “with the position that they are there on behalf of the independent state and know that that they have support for such a stand”.

Underlining that now everything is entirely up to the EU, the Serbian president cautioned that whatever the solution, it has to appreciate the specificity of the Serb community and the four local self-governments in northern KIM that ethnic Albanians “did not manage to take over, not even with arms, so it would be unrealistic to expect that they could achieve that through negotiations with Belgrade”.

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has expressed hope that the crisis in Ukraine will not last very long, adding that the situation is developing favorably.

The situation in Ukraine does not entitle any of the parties to do everything they imagined, Nikolic said, stressing that there could be favorable development if the parties involved quickly sat at the negotiating table to reach an agreement, because it was obvious that there were too many weapons and too many people dying on the ground.

It would be good for Serbia as chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to be remembered as a state that chaired the organization at a time when a major European crisis came to an end, Nikolic said for state-run Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) late on Tuesday.

Serbia is very lucky to chair the OSCE in this difficult time. It is a very good opportunity to reaffirm the original principles that international organizations are based on, said the Serbian head of state.

Inside the Serbian government there is nobody who favors introducing sanctions against the Russian Federation, Nikolic stated.

Commenting on the issue, Nikolic said that even if Belgrade, hypothetically speaking, implemented the EU-imposed punitive measures against Russia, it would not make the life in Russia one ounce more difficult.

“Introducing sanctions against anyone in the world would only serve to place Serbia in a jeopardized position”, Nikolic said.

Asked about a recent statement by United States Secretary of State John Kerry about countries that were “on the firing line,” Nikolic said that he himself would never use a sentence that could allude to war conflicts no matter what country was being spoken about.

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has said that Serbia will not spoil relations with Croatia or do anything that could harm these relations.

Nikolic said in an interview for Radio and Television of Serbia that this is also proved by the fact that Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic attended the inauguration of Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic on Serbia's Statehood Day, February 15.

Nikolic, however, wondered if Croatian officials would do the same if Serbia held the inauguration of its president on Croatia's statehood day.

The Serbian president believes that good mutual relations are very important for both Serbia and Croatia.

However, Croatia is still experiencing euphoria of the pre-lection and post-election campaigns, and does not want to say that it finds cooperation with Serbia so important, the president said.

He said that former president Ivo Josipovic paid an official visit to Serbia and was welcomed exceptionally well, as a good neighbor and a friend, adding that it is now up to Croatia to invite the Serbian president for a visit.

OBAMA HAS BEEN INVITED TO VISIT SERBIA

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has confirmed that United States President Barack Obama has been sent an invitation to visit Belgrade.

Nikolic said in an interview for state-run Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) late on Tuesday that it was realistic to expect the visit to occur as part of a European tour that the US president might make in the future as it was unlikely than he would travel to visit only Serbia.

Nikolic said that Serbia would like Obama to come for a visit and the message had been forwarded to him via the US Embassy in Belgrade, and it would like to see a Serbian president pay an official visit to the United States.

Whether the visit is taking place or not is not being made public in advance, as there is always the possibility of canceling the visit due to a change in circumstances. The US president’s schedule is planned two years in advance, the Serbian president explained.

Nikolic pointed out that it would be good for the relationship between the two countries if a U.S. president visited Serbia after so many years.

The last time a U.S. president paid an official visit to Belgrade was when Jimmy Carter came to the capital of the former Yugoslavia 35 years ago - on June 24-25, 1980.

Before him, US president Gerald Ford officially visited the former Yugoslavia on August 3- 4, 1975.

(Telegraf.rs / Tanjug)