EU Balkans Summit in Slovenia- "Serbian presence would mean Kosovo Recognition"

Serbian President Boris Tadic recently made it clear that he would only attend the summit in Brdo, Slovenia, if Kosovo is represented as a UN protectorate, i.e. as UNMIK-Kosovo.

BELGRADE -- Foreign Ministry Political Director Borko Stefanović said Serbia would be recognizing Kosovo’s independence by participating in the conference in Slovenia.

Serbian President Boris Tadić has made a definitive decision that he will not be attending the regional conference in Slovenia aimed at discussing the European integration of the Western Balkans.

“The President cannot sit in front of a name plate that would only state his name or state nothing at all,” Stefanović said, referring to the proposal for conference participators not to have any denotations of what countries they represent.

Serbia stated that it would only participate in the conference if Kosovo was represented as UNMIK/Kosovo according to UN Resolution 1244, while Kosovo insisted on participating in the conference as an independence state.

Despite Serbia’s decision not to participate, the meeting will be held on Saturday, Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor confirmed.

Stefanović said that Serbia was prepared to reach a compromise for its participation in the conference, but that every acceptable solution would include having an UNMIK official be present to represent Kosovo.

“The call for Serbia to develop its good relations with neighboring countries cannot be related to Kosovo,” Stefanović said.

He said that Serbia does not wish to stop Kosovo from participating in regional conferences, but only with UNMIK officials representing the province.

He said that any other situation would be used by Priština to show that Belgrade has in that way implicitly recognized Kosovo’s independence.

“Serbia cannot allow itself to be put in a situation in which it violates its own integrity and constitution,” Stefanović said.

Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Đukanović was the first to arrive to Slovenia on Friday, followed by Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci,

Thaci said that he was content with the status Kosovo had fought to maintain at the conference and that in the future, Kosovo would only be participating in conferences in which it is represented as an independent country.

EU officials will not be attending the conference, even though EU President Herman Van Rompuy and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos were expected to attend.

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