Bratislava, July 3 (CTK) - Central European countries want to coordinate their positions on the future status of the Serbian province Kosovo, Slovak Foreign Minister Jan Kubis said after a meeting of the Regional Partnership foreign ministers today.
Along with the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the Regional Partnership includes Poland, Hungary, Austria and Slovenia. Slovakia had adopted a more reserved stance on Kosovo’s independence than other EU countries.
“As members of the European Union we extremely closely coordinate our positions (…) We will remain united as members of the European Union also in the forthcoming period,” Kubis said, adding that Regional Partnership countries had supported Serbia’s EU bid.
Slovakia is now an elected member of the United Nations Security Council, which will deal with the Kosovo issue.
Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, who was a guest to the meeting today, stressed that Kosovo’s future status should be acceptable for the Serbian government, too.
“We believe as Serbian government, that only a compromise solution, only a mutually agreeable solution, can lead to peace in the Balkans,” Jeremic said.
Kosovo Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the population in Kosovo, reject any plans but full independence.
However, Belgrade refuses to give up the province, considering it the cradle of the Serbian nation.
It is backed by Russia with the right of veto in the United Nations Security Council.
Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik dismissed the view that Austria rejected the Schengen enlargement. Slovak and Hungarian prime ministers, Robert Fico and Ferenc Gyurcsany criticised Austria as they said it tries to postpone the entry of new EU countries into the Schengen area, scheduled for the end of the year.
“It simply is not true that Austria takes a negative position on the Schengen agreement and the entry of our neighbours into the Schengen zone,” Plassnik said.
However, Plassnik said that the candidates for Schengen will have to fulfil all the security criteria.
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