German parliamentarian Peter Beyer thinks Kosovo is "factually independent and Serbia should recognize de jure the sovereign state of the Republic of Kosovo."

Otherwise, Beyer continued, Serbia will not join the European Union, and that is, among other things, the message with which he came to Belgrade.
"It is important that everyone understands that it has been clear from the very beginning of the dialogue process that normalization of relations, or dialogue in general, will not happen without de facto recognition of the territorial integrity of the Republic of Kosovo. That should be clear," Beyer is categorical in his interpretation of the German view of the final solution to the Kosovo problem.

Beyer, who is also a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of German head of government Angela Merkel,and the coordinator of transatlantic cooperation in the German parliament, said in an interview for Tanjug that his statement about November being "the decision-making month for the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue with EU mediation," was, in fact, not his own assessment, but "a prediction of Kosovo President Thaci."

He reiterates that Germany is against "land swaps or correction of borders." Beyer also states that goal of his trip to Belgrade, "apart from getting to know Serbia's progress in the process of European integration," is to convey Germany's view that the idea of exchanging territory is bad and dangerous.

"We are not at all considering such ideas and the position of German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not change, and that is the key thing I want to convey as the message from Berlin," explains Beyer.

The German recalled that Merkel was the only head of state in the EU who clearly said that this was not a good idea, that it was dangerous, "not only for the stability of Serbia and Kosovo, but also dangerous for the Serbs Republic or Ukraine and the Crimea case, or other parts of Eastern Europe, and precisely because of this everyone has to give up on such an idea immediately."

Asked what Germany sees as a possible solution, Beyer advises: "You concentrate on the Brussels agreement and its implementation. There are no new conditions or the red lines that are making. I believe that both sides, Serbs and Kosovars (K. Albanians), as well as the EU Commission and EU High Representative, should go back and read what was agreed in the Brussels agreement and what has been achieved so far," he said. And as one of the acceptable options for a solution, Beyer mentioned the so-called "Two Germanys" model.

"Now is the time to analyze this model and other options, but no one should live under an illusion that a peaceful solution will be achieved by drawing new boundaries based on an ethnic principle," Beyer is explicit.

At the same time, he emphasizes that the process of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is not dead, nor does he believe in the option of a frozen conflict. "We know that dialogue is continuing at the technical level, and that is progress that clearly shows that the process is not dead: this is not a frozen conflict, nor will it be. Serbia and Kosovo, as well as the EU, need to be active and no one needs to hurl towards easy solutions or solutions that appear easy at first," says Beyer.

He explained that for the process of stabilization and integration in the EU, every week now is decisive, and that he therefore felt it was time to come to Belgrade and talk about the land swap proposal, that is, that he wanted to personally see what progress Serbia has made on the road to the European Union.

"That's the most important thing. How much have you progressed substantially in legal reforms, in the rule of law, in the fight against corruption."

Asked about the stance of Germany on the process of forming an army in Kosovo, Beyer says that the German army has been in Kosovo for 20 years within KFOR and that it is the longest ever had in a foreign mission, but that their number has been reduced over the years, and activities are now focused on "training and consultation."

"Serbia should not be scared because of the process of transforming the Kosovo Security Forces into the Kosovo army," Beyer said. The position of Germany is that the transition should be done smoothly, not too fast. This is an important process, he says, "because Kosovo needs to take responsibility for its security in the future."

See at: https://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2018&mm=10&dd=24&nav_id=105368