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Kosovo issue key to Serbian EU bid - Tadic

© Vladimir Rodionov / Go to the mediabankSerbian President Boris Tadic
Serbian President Boris Tadic - Sputnik International
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Serbia will only become a member of the European Union after solving the Kosovo issue, Serbian President Boris Tadic said on Tuesday after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Belgrade.

Serbia will only become a member of the European Union after solving the Kosovo issue, Serbian President Boris Tadic said on Tuesday after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Belgrade.

"Today we face serious challenges in the region, and Kosovo and Metohija are among them. Serbia has no illusions that it could bring this conflict into the European Union, because the EU has its own conflicts. Serbia is willing to resolve the conflicts in Western Balkans," the Serbian president said.

He added that he saw no need for Belgrade to seek "artificial ways" of becoming an EU member, but hoped that no double standards would be applied to Serbia's future EU bid.

Politicians and experts believe that without recognizing the sovereignty of Kosovo, which unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008, Belgrade will be unable to achieve the EU member status. Most EU members have recognized Kosovo as an independent state.

Tadic said his country was ready to seek a "flexible and creative solution" to the Kosovo issue, which "respects the dignity of both the Albanian and the Serbian peoples, gives an opportunity to take the European path and creates no new threats for neighboring states."

Merkel said that Serbia was welcome in the European Union on certain conditions, including the presence of EU mission in Kosovo in Kosovo's northern regions, populated mostly by ethnic Serbs.

She also said the role of Serbian municipal administrations in Northern Kosovo, which she described as "parallel structures" should be downgraded.

"We see that Serbia's future lies in the European Union, and we will do our best to help it overcome obstacles in that way in line with the European principles," she said.

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