BELGRADE, April 24. /TASS/. The West keeps playing games with Serbia by twisting any and all agreements to serve its own interests, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Monday as he stated that Belgrade continues to oppose the bid by the breakaway region of Kosovo to join the Council of Europe. We will vote against its membership in the Council of Europe. Stop lying and deceiving us, Vucic said at a news conference. That s all I have to say to you, to those in Europe and around the world who think they have the right to lie and deceive us and interpret things as they see fit, not as they are written or agreed on. EU Special Representative for the Western Balkans Miroslav Lajcak said at the end of March that the plan proposed by the European Union to normalize relations between unrecognized Kosovo and Serbia is considered accepted and binding for both sides, despite Belgrade s refusal to sign it. News reports previously said that the Council of Europe will consider the membership application of the unrecognized Kosovo at a special meeting scheduled for April 24. It was reported that the decision to hold the meeting on Kosovo’s admission to the Council of Europe was made at a ministerial meeting of a committee at the Council of Europe at the insistence of some countries of the Quint (a group of countries made up of the US, the UK, France, Germany and Italy). It was also reported that the draft decision, which is due to be presented on Monday, refers to the agreements that were reached at the talks between Belgrade and Pristina in Brussels on February 27 and North Macedonia’s Ohrid on March 18, which state that Serbia will not oppose Kosovo s membership in international organizations. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has repeatedly said that Belgrade will fulfill everything that the sides agreed on in the framework of the talks in Ohrid on March 18, but the country will not support the membership of the breakaway Kosovo in the UN or any other international organizations. Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said following the EU mediated talks between the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia in North Macedonia, that the agreement would be considered binding by his statement, which would be published, and not by a joint statement signed by all sides, as was originally planned. The Agreement on the Path to Normalization Between Kosovo and Serbia that was published on February 27 requires Belgrade to essentially recognize the independence of the self proclaimed state. The document provides for the mutual recognition of passports, Serbia s refusal to represent Kosovo on the world stage, the exchange of diplomatic missions, as well as the legal obligations of the sides to work on a comprehensive normalization of relations. Brussels is forcing Serbia to agree to all the clauses of this agreement under the threat of imposing sanctions and withdrawing investments.

Text to Speech

Select Voice

Volume

1

Rate

1

Pitch

1

BELGRADE, April 24. /TASS/. The West keeps playing games with Serbia by twisting any and all agreements to serve its own interests, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Monday as he stated that Belgrade continues to oppose the bid by the breakaway region of Kosovo to join the Council of Europe. We will vote against its membership in the Council of Europe. Stop lying and deceiving us, Vucic said at a news conference. That s all I have to say to you, to those in Europe and around the world who think they have the right to lie and deceive us and interpret things as they see fit, not as they are written or agreed on. EU Special Representative for the Western Balkans Miroslav Lajcak said at the end of March that the plan proposed by the European Union to normalize relations between unrecognized Kosovo and Serbia is considered accepted and binding for both sides, despite Belgrade s refusal to sign it. News reports previously said that the Council of Europe will consider the membership application of the unrecognized Kosovo at a special meeting scheduled for April 24. It was reported that the decision to hold the meeting on Kosovo’s admission to the Council of Europe was made at a ministerial meeting of a committee at the Council of Europe at the insistence of some countries of the Quint (a group of countries made up of the US, the UK, France, Germany and Italy). It was also reported that the draft decision, which is due to be presented on Monday, refers to the agreements that were reached at the talks between Belgrade and Pristina in Brussels on February 27 and North Macedonia’s Ohrid on March 18, which state that Serbia will not oppose Kosovo s membership in international organizations. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has repeatedly said that Belgrade will fulfill everything that the sides agreed on in the framework of the talks in Ohrid on March 18, but the country will not support the membership of the breakaway Kosovo in the UN or any other international organizations. Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said following the EU mediated talks between the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia in North Macedonia, that the agreement would be considered binding by his statement, which would be published, and not by a joint statement signed by all sides, as was originally planned. The Agreement on the Path to Normalization Between Kosovo and Serbia that was published on February 27 requires Belgrade to essentially recognize the independence of the self proclaimed state. The document provides for the mutual recognition of passports, Serbia s refusal to represent Kosovo on the world stage, the exchange of diplomatic missions, as well as the legal obligations of the sides to work on a comprehensive normalization of relations. Brussels is forcing Serbia to agree to all the clauses of this agreement under the threat of imposing sanctions and withdrawing investments.