Bernard Kouchner in Belgrade

Belgrade, March 02, 2010 (Source: B 92, Tanjug) - French FM Bernard Kouchner is in Belgrade, where he has met with President Boris Tadić, and will also talk with Deputy PM Božidar Đelić, and FM Vuk Jeremić. Ahead of the meetings today, he visited the grave of former Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić, assassinated in 2003.Tadić and Kouchner discussed the issue of bilateral relations, continuation of Serbia's European integration and Kosovo and Metohija, the president's cabinet released in a statement. "President Tadić underlined that France strongly supports Serbia's membership in the European Union,", the statement reads. The collocutors also agreed that no additional conditions will be imposed on Serbia regarding its EU membership. According to this, Tadić said that Serbia expects that the opinion of the International Court of Justice (on Kosovo independence) will pave the way for the reaching of a sustainable and compromise solution for Kosovo. The negotiations on the agreement on strategic partnership between France and Serbia have been successfully completed and the document will be signed during a future visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Serbia. The meeting between Tadić and Kouchner was also attended by Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić, the statement said. Ahead of the meeting, the French foreign ministry stated that "despite the differences between Serbia and Kosovo, there are fields in which the two countries can and must reach agreements, especially in relation to question regarding police, legislature and customs, with the support of the EULEX mission". On Sunday, AFP reported that Kouchner intends to call for reconciliation "of Serbia with Kosovo". In a statement to reporters who were with him on the plane from Paris, he said that his country "supports Serbia's EU membership and a positive development of relations between Serbia and Kosovo". "Serbs should not complicate the already sufficiently complicated situation," Kouchner said, in reference to the ethnic Albanians' unilaterally declared independence, which Belgrade rejects. He also stated that "the EU will have to make its stance on Serbia's membership unanimously". 22 out of 27 EU member-states have recognized the proclamation. Kouchner, meanwhile, says he considers himself "a friend" of both Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo. After Belgrade, he will travel to the province, to meet with Kosovo officials in Priština, and he will also tour the Serbian monastery of Gračanica, it was reported on Sunday. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told B92 in an exclusive interview that "relations with Kosovo must be simpler and based on friendship". These relations must be less tense, because that will make easier Serbia’s future in the EU, he said. “President Sarkozy and I are not asking Serbia to recognize Kosovo, but to begin the process of dialogue, work, relaxation, and the normalization of relations,” Kouchner said. “There are many people among the 27 (EU) member-states that do not agree with new Union enlargement. We have already gained experience with one divided country, Cyprus, and we are not ready to repeat that." "I am not saying that there are conditions or prerequisites to solve the Kosovo problem, and in Kosovo, to solve the problem with Serbia, no, but there must be an atmosphere that will enable everything to be regulated once Serbia becomes an EU member-state,” Kouchner told B92. Ahead of the meetings today, he visited the grave of former Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić, assassinated in 2003. Tadić and Kouchner discussed the issue of bilateral relations, continuation of Serbia's European integration and Kosovo and Metohija, the president's cabinet released in a statement. President Tadić underlined that France strongly supports Serbia's membership in the European Union,", the statement reads. The collocutors also agreed that no additional conditions will be imposed on Serbia regarding its EU membership. According to this, Tadić said that Serbia expects that the opinion of the International Court of Justice (on Kosovo independence) will pave the way for the reaching of a sustainable and compromise solution for Kosovo. The negotiations on the agreement on strategic partnership between France and Serbia have been successfully completed and the document will be signed during a future visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Serbia. The meeting between Tadić and Kouchner was also attended by Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić, the statement said. Ahead of the meeting, the French foreign ministry stated that "despite the differences between Serbia and Kosovo, there are fields in which the two countries can and must reach agreements, especially in relation to question regarding police, legislature and customs, with the support of the EULEX mission". On Sunday, AFP reported that Kouchner intends to call for reconciliation "of Serbia with Kosovo". In a statement to reporters who were with him on the plane from Paris, he said that his country "supports Serbia's EU membership and a positive development of relations between Serbia and Kosovo". "Serbs should not complicate the already sufficiently complicated situation," Kouchner said, in reference to the ethnic Albanians' unilaterally declared independence, which Belgrade rejects. He also stated that "the EU will have to make its stance on Serbia's membership unanimously". 22 out of 27 EU member-states have recognized the proclamation. Kouchner, meanwhile, says he considers himself "a friend" of both Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo. After Belgrade, he will travel to the province, to meet with Kosovo officials in Priština, and he will also tour the Serbian monastery of Gračanica, it was reported on Sunday. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told B92 in an exclusive interview that "relations with Kosovo must be simpler and based on friendship". These relations must be less tense, because that will make easier Serbia’s future in the EU, he said. “President Sarkozy and I are not asking Serbia to recognize Kosovo, but to begin the process of dialogue, work, relaxation, and the normalization of relations,” Kouchner said. “There are many people among the 27 (EU) member-states that do not agree with new Union enlargement. We have already gained experience with one divided country, Cyprus, and we are not ready to repeat that. "I am not saying that there are conditions or prerequisites to solve the Kosovo problem, and in Kosovo, to solve the problem with Serbia, no, but there must be an atmosphere that will enable everything to be regulated once Serbia becomes an EU member-state,” Kouchner told B92. Political analyst Predrag Simić that Kouchner is expected to encourage cooperation between Serbia and EULEX during his Belgrade visit. “Because of the fact that this is the first visit of a French foreign minister since July 2007 –the first since Kosovo’s proclamation – it can be said that the goal of the visit is to normalize and further develop relations between Belgrade and Paris,” Simić said. He believes that the key topic will be Kosovo and the role of EULEX. “There has been a lot of speculation that France is unsatisfied with Belgrade’s stance towards EULEX and the announcements that Belgrade could be initiating a new action before the UN Security Council after the International Court of Justice gives its opinion on (the legality of) Kosovo’s (unilateral) independence proclamation,” he said. “I think that the message is clear, that Kosovo is a done deal for France and that Belgrade is expected, not to recognize Kosovo, but to cooperate with EULEX and help normalize the situation in Kosovo. This will probably also include the controversial plan of Pieter Feith, which received negative reactions from Serbs in Kosovo and the government in Belgrade,” Simić said.
France’s support for European integration is not being questioned, Simić said, but there is a possibility that France will ask Serbia to reformulate its stances regarding Kosovo on the road to EU integration. Simić said that be believes that Kouchner’s visit represents an announcement of the visit of President Nikola Sarkozy, which France has been announcing over the last two years. Simić said that besides Kosovo and EU integration, there are other open questions between Paris and Belgrade. One such question is the French investments which have stagnated, and trade cooperation between the two countries, which was successfully developing until 2007, especially when it comes to Serbia’s exports to France.