German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who on Monday met in Belgrade with Serbia's top officials, said that he could send a positive signal to the Bundestag regarding a decision to give Serbia a date to start negotiations for membership to the European Union provided that there were obvious and tangible results from applying the Belgrade-Pristina agreement but he did not wish to pre-empt the European Council's decision or that of the parliament of his country.
Westerwelle met separately in Belgrade on the second day of his visit with President Tomislav Nikolic, Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkic to discuss the EU brokered deal reached on April 19 which he considered to be historic but stressed that concrete steps were necessary to implement the deal in the field.
My visit to Serbia is a gesture of encouragement. The EU can do good for Serbia and Serbia can do good for the EU and that is why it is important at this historic moment to make the right decisions, Germany's head of diplomacy said at a joint press conference after meeting with PM Dacic.
Expressing his understanding for the situation in Serbia after the deal was made, Westerwelle underscored that the European perspective only recognised winners. He stressed the importance to improve the situation for investments, economic growth and creating new jobs, Westerwelle suggested that it would be important to utilise opportunities offered to adopt far reaching courageous decisions. Historic opportunities of this nature do not occur often and when they are offered they need to be utilised, he said.
PM Dacic said that Serbia had no more time to wait and any delay to be given a date to start negotiations with the EU could have catastrophic consequences for the future of the country.
"It is vital for Serbia to be given a date to start negotiations not because we want to go toward the EU of our own self-will but because this is necessary for our people and our country which over the past few decades has stagnated compared to other countries in the region", Dacic explained.
He said that dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina to implement the Brussels agreement would continue on Tuesday. Serbia will invest maximum effort to arrive at a solution and adopt an implementation plan which will be carried out in steps and which is vital for Belgrade to be given a date for negotiations.
Earlier in the day Westerwelle spoke with President Nikolic who assured that "Serbia was dedicated to resolving the problem with Kosovo" and to "reach a plan to implement the April 19 agreement". According to a press release, President Nikolic told Westerwelle that it was "exceptionally important for Serbia to be given a date to start EU accession negotiations as soon as possible" and that "Serbia would not misguide its European partners by promising what it cannot fulfill".
Several dozen sympathisers of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) gathered outside in a sign of protest against Westerwelle's visit and burned the EU and Kosovo flags flying outside the president's office in Belgrade, stating that they would not give up on Kosovo and referring to Germany, the EU and USA as "Serbia's enemies."
