Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said Monday that no pressure can force Serbia to recognize Kosovo’s independence. “I have confidence in the UN, to which Serbia entrusted the care of Kosovo and Metohija in 1999,” Nikolic said at a meeting with new UNMIK chief Zahir Tanin and the new chief of the UN Office in Belgrade, Simona-Mirela Miculescu.
Nikolic pointed out that admitting the so-called “Republic of Kosovo” (unilaterally proclaimed independent by ethnic Albanians in 2008) to UNESCO was unacceptable. If it still happens, “by mere outvoting, the Serb cultural heritage would suffer after that, just as it already happened in 2004, and all would hide from responsibility for such a catastrophic decision, and once again the biggest and the only loser would be the Serbian people, and that must not happen,” said Nikolic.
New UNMIK head Zahir Tanin said Monday that UNMIK would continue to operate in accordance with the mandate given to it by UNSC Resolution 1244. During the meeting with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic in Belgrade, Tanin expressed support for the Belgrade-Pristina talks and implementation of the agreements aimed at stabilizing the situation in the region, the president’s press office said in a release.
Nikolic said that Serbia had met all requirements from the Brussels agreement, while Pristina did not want to meet any of its obligations towards Serbia.
He presented arguments against Kosovo’s admission to UNESCO, stressing that the campaign was “an insult to Serbia.”
Tanin said he was aware how important was for Serbia to preserve its cultural heritage in Kosovo, stressing that it was equally important to the entire international community.
