Serbia President: Kosovo Independence Unacceptable

Serbian President says that his government is ready to resume the negotiations on the status of the province "at any moment."

After meeting with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi in Rome on Tuesday, Serbian President Boris Tadic said that the independence of Kosovo was “unacceptable” to Belgrade and added that his government was ready to continue the negotiations on the status of the province “at any moment” in order to reach a compromise which would be acceptable to all.  

“Italian public opinion knows that the independence of Kosovo, no matter of what kind, is unacceptable. Serbia sincerely wants a compromise and solution that is acceptable to both sides, Pristina and Belgrade,” Tadic told the press after meeting with the head of the Italian government Romano Prodi in Rome.  

Tadic reminded that the Kosovo status was being discussed at the UN Security Council, therefore outside the process of direct negotiations between Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians and said that “Serbia is ready to continue the process of negotiation at any moment.”  

Prodi said that the time has come to make a definite decision regarding Kosovo because it is not possible to continue the negotiations between Pristina and Belgrade, which took place in Vienna between February 2006 and March 2007 and failed in the end.  

Prodi added that he was hoping that the plan of the UN mediator Martti Ahtisaari, which presupposes Kosovo independence under international supervision and is currently debated by the UN, could represent the road of safety, peace and progress for the Serb community in Kosovo.   

Tadic invited Prodi to visit Belgrade and thanked him for the support in bringing Serbia closer to the European Union.