Biden: Serbia may disagree on Kosovo, not undermine it

May 20, 2009, 14:39 GMT

Belgrade - Serbia does not have to recognise the previously- Serbian province Kosovo as independent, to have Washington's support in its bid to join the European Union, US Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday in Belgrade.

On the second leg of his mini-tour of Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo, Biden said American-Serbian ties can improve despite some entrenched differences, 'as long as we have reasonable expectations.'

'We can agree to disagree, as long as we have reasonable expectations,' he said after talks with President Boris Tadic, stressing that Serbia's recognition of Kosovo was not a condition.

'The United States does not expect Serbia to recognise Kosovo. It is not a precondition for our relationship or our support for Serbia becoming part of the European Union,' Biden said.

But Biden said it is expected of Serbia not to hamper the development of Kosovo, but instead to work with the international community in its effort to rebuild it and improve the standard of life of its citizens, including the minority Serbs.

Belgrade also needs to do everything possible to bring to justice the remaining fugitives from the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague, he said.

Serbia is yet to arrest two fugitives, including the Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, accused of genocide over atrocities such as the slaughter of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995.

'We will use our influence, our energy and our resources to promote Serbia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations,' Biden added.

Tadic said talks were 'open and productive,' but added he was hoping for 'a new US policy for Serbia and the Western Balkans ... that consider interests of Serbia more than before.'

He repeated that that Serbia will not recognize Kosovo's independence.

'Serbia does not and will never recognise Kosovo. Serbia has legitimate right to defend its territorial integrity by using peaceful, diplomatic and legal means,' Tadic said

Washington's relations with Belgrade deteriorated during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, dropping to the lowest point during the US- led NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, which was aimed at stopping bloodshed in Kosovo.

Ties again approached a freezing point when the United States strongly encouraged the majority Albanians in Kosovo to declare independence from Serbia in February 2008. Only days after the declaration of independence, the U.S. embassy in Belgrade was torched.

Even as Biden was meeting Tadic, the nationalist opposition took part in a Serbian parliament session waving fliers with the caption 'Biden, you Nazi scum, go home.'

Serbia has been campaigning around the globe against Kosovo's independence and has also instructed Serbs in their large enclave in northern Kosovo not to cooperate with the law-enforcing EU mission deployed to Kosovo in late 2008.

Biden is the highest U.S. official to visit Belgrade since Jimmy Carter came to Yugoslavia in 1980. Apart from Tadic, Biden met with Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac and several other high ranking officials.

Authorities beefed up security ahead of Biden's visit, closed Serbia's air space and several major streets - causing huge traffic jams, and baned all public gatherings.

After visits to Sarajevo on Tuesday and Belgrade a day later, Biden is due to wrap up his of the Balkans with a visit to Kosovo on Thursday.

The aim of his tour is to signal a return of 'refocused' US interests in the region. Following heavy involvement in the Balkans during the 1990s, US activity there has dropped this decade.