Germany's Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who arrived in Belgrade for a visit on Thursday, said that Kosovo's independence is a reality confirmed by an unambiguous opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the local media reported.
"Reconciliation can succeed only if you face reality - the independence of Kosovo is a reality," Westerwelle said in Belgrade.
"The map of southeastern Europe has been laid down and completed," the German official said in an address to members of the Serbian academic community in Belgrade.
There is a chance for Belgrade and Pristina to launch direct talks, but the real place for such talks is Brussels, not New York, Westerwelle said, expressing confidence that Serbia's future lies in the European Union.
"A day will come when EU, Kosovo and Serbian representatives will be sitting around the same table. It may now seem like a utopia," he said.
Speaking of European integration processes, Westerwelle said that the road to the EU was long and hard, warning that EU member countries would not accept any lowering of the membership criteria.
Westerwelle started his visit to Belgrade by meeting Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic at the government headquarters. Later in the day, he was expected to meet President Boris Tadic and his Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic, as well as representatives of Serbian political parties.
This is Westerwelle's first visit to Belgrade since his election as German Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister last October.
His visit comes only two weeks before a discussion on a Serbian draft resolution on the Kosovo issue at the UN General Assembly.
