Serbia’s first deputy PM and foreign minister Ivica Dacic says German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel is the one who should accept reality – rather than Serbia, as Gabriel previously suggested, reports Serbian media.
Dacic spoke late on Thursday adding that the reality is that the current German government is on its way out.
“Give him my regards. Farewell, Gabriel, and accept the reality that the current German government is outgoing,” Beta agency quotes Dacic as saying to the website Insajder.
Dacic told Insajder that he does not want to reply to any more questions because he was abroad, but said Gabriel would have his response on Saturday, reports Serbian media.
This comes after the German official “conveyed to top officials of Kosovo and Serbia the essence of a legally binding agreement,” Beta reported, citing Pristina-based website gazetaexpress.com, which also said the document would have Belgrade “accept Kosovo’s independence without formally recognizing it.”
He said that Serbia should “accept Kosovo’s independence” without mentioning the word “recognition.”
“If Serbia wants to move toward the European Union, the building of the rule of law is a primary condition, but naturally also the acceptance of Kosovo’s independence,” he said in Pristina, according to Reuters, and added his country would help to get Kosovo recognized by the five EU member states “that have yet to do so.”
Tanjug is also citing the gazetaexpress.com report, to say that Gabriel’s proposal is for Serbia to “accept the existence of a state of Kosovo, without an obligation to formally recognize it.”
The Albanian language outlet observed that “it seems the idea that has long been mentioned is taking shape at the diplomatic level – that Kosovo and Serbia should model their relations after two Germanys.”
