Kostunica: EU has to choose between Serbia and Kosovo

Jan 3, 2008, 15:18 GMT

Belgrade - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said Thursday that the European Union would 'have to choose' between Serbia and Kosovo.

'The EU will ... have to choose whether it would sign a Stabilization and Association Agreement with Serbia or send its civil mission to Kosovo,' Kostunica was quoted by Serbian media as saying.

The EU, backed by the United States, plans to send a mission of 1,800 police, customs and judicial officials to help Kosovo's first steps as an independent state.

Kosovo, where the new parliament is set to convene for the first time on Friday, is expected to declare independence shortly after the Serbian presidential election run-off on February 3.

Serbia insists that Kosovo is a part of its territory, and Kostunica said that the EU mission was not welcome.

'Should the EU take the illegal decision to send its mission, it would annul the initialled (stabilization and association) agreement with Serbia,' Kostunica said, warning that 'one excludes the other.'

The signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement would be a major step for Serbia toward membership of the EU.

The EU cannot at the same time dismember Serbia and push Serbia to sign the agreement, Kostunica said.

'We are at that point where the EU must choose if it wants the whole, internationally recognized Serbia as its partner or if it wants to create a quasi-state on Serbia's soil,' he said.

Kostunica, who has been particularly belligerent about the United States and NATO, said that the EU was considering its Kosovo mission under US pressure.

He has accused NATO of intending to set up a 'puppet state' in Kosovo.

The US already wanted to recognize Kosovo unilaterally last year, but decided to wait until the EU reached a consensus.

The EU mission is to replace the lumbering UN administration which has governed the province with a dominant Albanian majority since mid-1999.