Dacic: EU Could Accept Partition of Kosovo If Belgrade, Pristina Reach Agreement

BELGRADE (Sputnik) - The European Union, in particular the United Kingdom and Germany, could eventually accept the partition of Kosovo as a last-resort solution to the conflict if Belgrade and Pristina agree to it, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Wednesday.

"The United Kingdom and Germany advocate for the inviolability of borders, but if an agreement is reached and if it becomes the only possible solution, I have no doubt that it [the deal] will be accepted. And the great EU, which mediates the [Pristina-Belgrade] dialogue, will accept it," Dacic said as quoted by the Tanjug news agency.

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Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in early August that he favored having Kosovo partitioned along ethnic lines as a means of avoiding further conflicts. Vucic's plan has been supported by the heads of Kosovo's 10 Serb-majority municipalities but criticized by the Serbian opposition. Kosovo President Hashim Thaci has, in turn, rejected the idea.

The partition has also been opposed by the United Kingdom and Germany, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejecting any changes to borders in the Balkans.

In 2008, Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia, which has never recognized the move. The self-proclaimed republic currently possesses recognition from more than 100 countries.