Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said on Sunday that nobody would return Kosovo to Serbia if it gave up from the European Union, stressing that it would be wrong for Belgrade to abandon the talks launched with Pristina.
"Certainly, none of us will sell Kosovo or betray Serbia," he said, commenting on today's call by Patriarch of Serbia Irinej that Serbia give up from the EU if the recognition of Kosovo was a requirement for membership.
Dacic said it was not that Serbia held Kosovo and would not give it away. "They took it from us. The question is how can we keep something of that," Dacic said, adding that nobody needed to tell him what national and state interests were.
As for Patriarch Irinej's call on the Serbian political leadership to establish the closest ties possible with Russia, Dacic said relations with Russia were a priority and that "Russia is Serbia's biggest friend," but those relations were yet to be built and strengthened and Serbia should utilise the power of Russia's president and prime minister.
Dacic said that before, "when Serbia was at its worst," the then Russian leadership had no understanding for its problems.
