With the support of the U.S. and Türkiye, Germany and France strive for a speedy solution to the Kosovo issue, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic said Saturday.
"The great Western powers and Turkey want to solve these problems because there is a war in Europe," Vucic said in an address to the nation after a session of the Serbian National Security Council in the nation's capital of Belgrade.
"Maybe, we in Serbia, don't understand that but Europe is at war. Europe has to defend itself and in accordance with that potential agreement, or potential solutions, they would avoid the possibility or it would be much easier for them to provide a clear answer to the President of Russia Vladimir Putin regarding the legal precedent and granting independence to Kosovo because later they would say that an agreement has been reached," he said. "If Crimea and Ukraine reached an agreement, then it is possible, but without it, it cannot be."
Vucic said that European envoys told during a meeting Friday that Putin "raised the curtain" and now it is up to everyone to declare "on which side the curtain is."
"Essentially, that agreement, in accordance with the interest of the Western countries, would mean, I cannot say the recognition of Kosovo what they mean by normalization, but it is the recognition of everything that they consider as reality," he said.
Vucic said it is a fact that the U.S. will send a new tranche of military aid against Russian aggression to Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, and Kosovo.
"I wonder what the Americans and all those from the surrounding area will ask of us later ... since there is not only one country on this list, and that is Serbia," he said.
Vucic said Serbia will not recognize the independence of Kosovo.
But he said the great powers do not want another war in Europe and intend to set a legal precedent for Putin with the solution that can be achieved between Belgrade and Pristina.
"We are more stable than some countries in the EU in terms of economy, energy, security, and politics,'' said Vucic referring to the current economy.
Serbia counts on Türkiye's support for the continuation of talks to resolve lingering disputes with Kosovo, Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic said earlier this month after meeting his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, in Belgrade.
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, with most U.N. member states, including the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, and Türkiye, recognizing it as a separate autonomous country from its neighbor.
Serbia continues to see Kosovo as its territory.
Kosovo narrowly averted a crisis this summer regarding license plates and ID cards having to bear Kosovo markings until a compromise was reached.
