Serbia: Ex-premier urges alternative to EU bid Belgrade, 24 June (AKI) – Serbia's prospects of joining the European Union are slim so it should think of a future outside the economic bloc, former prime minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Thursday.
“Serbia will have to find an alternative because the EU, because of its problems, has put expansion to new members on hold,” Kostunica said. Twenty-two of the EU's members have recognised Kosovo and each of these countries could veto Serbia’s entry, Kostunica noted. The Serbian government has so far refused to recogise Kosovo's independence, which seceded from Serbia in Februrary 2008. Kostunica accused Serbian president Boris Tadic of “political deceit”, for claiming Serbia's EU prospects did not depend on its recognition of Kosovo. But EU officials have recently indicated that there was no place for Serbia in the EU if it failed to recognise Kosovo or at least to establish "good neighbourly relations”. Kostunica said Serbia should cultivate the best possible relations with the EU and base its development on European values, but could join the Union only with Kosovo as its integral part. http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Politics/?id=3.1.589406607
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