Belgrade won’t give up its pride and constitution for some European ‘carrot’, and the battle for Kosovo still lies ahead of us, Serbia’s Foreign Minister has told the Vecernje Novosti daily on Friday.

Ivica Dacic referred to a comment by Peter Beyer, a German parliamentarian from the Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU party, who has recently told Belgrade authorities that “Serbia cannot be a part of the European Union until it de jure recognizes the independence of Kosovo.”

Dacic said Beyer’s words should be taken seriously since he came from Merkel's party, but added that “if that is so, what is the purpose of the Belgrade – Pristina dialogue under the EU auspices in Brussels?”

That process “is exhausting and frustrating for us,” he added, asking what was the point if the outcome was known.

Dacic said Serbia would not ignore its constitution “and its pride” by recognizing “the fake Kosovo state” for some European concessions, adding that Kosovo battle was not over yet.

“The signals coming from some key Western states, primarily from the US, which all have so far said that Kosovo’s independence is a done deal, give us the right to fight, taking the reality on the ground into account, but also the foundations of the international law brutally violated in 2008 by Pristina’s unilateral declaration of independence,” Dacic underlined.