KOSOVO:Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic yesterday visited the European Parliament in Strasbourg to lobby against recognition of Kosovo, telling MEPs that no solution to the problems of the region should be imposed from outside.
In an at times emotional speech Mr Jeremic said that no European country in the past 60 years had been subjected to the division of its sovereign national territory while the views of a democratically-elected parliament were ignored. Accusing the EU of blindly following "the worst US administration for foreign policy ever", he said that recognising Kosovo would be a "catastrophe".
He described the unilateral declaration of independence as "an illegal, religiously-motivated attempt at secession" and warned that, if successful, the EU and the US would have "handed a tool kit" to minority populations around the world, particularly in Spain, Africa and Asia.
However, while insisting that "Kosovo shall remain a part of Serbia forever", he said that its government would not endorse, encourage or sponsor any form of violence in the region.
Meanwhile, the president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pottering, said that the failure of EU members to agree a common position on Kosovo would not deflect from efforts to increase stability in the region. He revealed that EU aid for Kosovo, currently about €150 million a year, would rise to €1 billion over the coming four years.