Starovic: They are aware in Pristina that they can't join UN, the goal of joining NATO and EU eludes them

Photo: Tanjug/Rade Prelic

State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nemanja Starovic says that even in Pristina they are aware that they cannot gain full membership in the UN and that the goal of becoming a member of NATO and the EU is "eluding them."

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"As long as we have five EU member states, four of which are NATO members, which do not recognize unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo and Metohija, that goal will certainly keep eluding them," Starovic told Happy TV.

He stressed more than 100 countries out of the total of 193 UN member states fully respect Serbia's territorial integrity, while less than 90 countries have recognized Kosovo.

He said that the campaign for further recognitions of Kosovo is being worked on constantly, and that Serbia also must work hard to strengthen the positions of the five EU member states that have not recognized Kosovo.

"We are continuing the derecognition campaign and in this short period of time, in just a few months, in addition to the 18 previous withdrawals of recognition, we managed to obtain seven more," said Starovic.

He recalled that the derecognition campaign started at the end of 2017 when Suriname decided to withdraw the decision to recognize Kosovo.

"After Suriname, in the following less than three years, we had a total of 18 countries that withdrew their recognition of unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo and Metohija, through the beginning of September 2020 when the so-called moratorium came into force, in accordance with the Washington Agreement, where we undertook to temporarily suspend that campaign, while the Pristina authorities were to suspend their campaign to join various international organizations. The moratorium has expired, we were willing to extend it, there was no good will for such a thing in Pristina. This spring, they decided to definitively break the moratorium by applying for membership in the Council of Europe. From that moment on, the moratorium has not been force," said Starovic.

The state secretary added that the presence of the head of Serbian diplomacy, Nikola Selakovic, at yesterday's inauguration of the new president of Angola, Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco, is another confirmation of Serbia's constant political presence on the African continent, and that this was an opportunity for Minister Selakovic to meet with the presidents of Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Guinea-Bissau, as well as with numerous prime ministers and deputy PMs, as well as ministers of foreign affairs.

Starovic stressed that there are strong ties between Serbia and African countries and that the majority of these countries have not violated Serbia's territorial integrity and do not recognize Kosovo.

"This is something we cannot take for granted, friendships must be nurtured, visits must be exchanged, and on top of everything comes economic cooperation that is increasing each year," said Starovic.

(Telegraf.rs/Kosovo Online)