Executive Director of the European Fund for the Balkans Hedvig Morvai believes that in the case of Kosovo and Catalonia there may be parallels and similarities, but that the context and power relations are different, reports today Radio Television of Serbia (RTS).
Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic confirmed on Monday that she would not take Belgrade's letter to the EU to Brussels with her, when she travels there on Tuesday.
The letter regards the European Commission' stance on the recent independence referendum in Catalonia, and on Kosovo.
Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic, said to RTS today that the letter on Catalonian referendum is prepared, he has signed it, however the PM Brnabic would not take it to Brussels tomorrow, but it would, as per request of Spain, be delivered at a later stage, in order not to deteriorate the situation in this country.
President Vucic, said at the press conference, that the PM Brnabic would sign the letter, seriously and thoroughly prepared, after the visit to Brussels and upon receiving the consent of the government.
Brussels did not provide convincing explanation, and I do not see how membership to the EU could influence international assessment of the declaration of independence, stated Serbian Academic and International Law Professor, Tibor Vardi to Politika daily.
The parallel between Catalonia and Kosovo is not simple, but it is also not without grounds, said Vardi, commenting on the stance of the European Commission saying Catalonia and Kosovo are incomparable, because Spain is an EU member state.
Serbia supports the territorial integrity of Spain and will not accept any unilateral acts by Catalonia, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Thursday.
"We do not want what has been applied to Kosovo to be applied in the case of Catalonia," Dacic told the RTV after a meeting with the Spanish ambassador to Serbia, Tanjug reported.
During the meeting earlier in the day, Dacic underlined that our country "stands firmly by Spain and gives it unreserved support when it comes to the defense and protection of its sovereignty and territorial integrity."
The Catalan regional government is planning to declare independence soon. However, it will not be able to refer to either international or the European law. The same thing as Kosovo did not become independent legally, but politically, Deutche Welle (DW) reported today.
The European Commission stated, it will, upon receiving the letter from the Serbian authorities, in details respond to questions related to its position on Kosovo and Catalonia cases, Tanjug news agency reported today.
“When we receive the letter, we will respond to it. You can be assured that our response would be well prepared and presented. It is always the case with all our responses and I see no reason it would be different in this case,” spokesperson of the European Commission, Alexander Winterstein said.
Politika daily on its front page in today’s print edition, runs the article in which long-term judge in the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Milenko Kreca expresses his opinion regarding Kosovo and Catalonia cases.
The difference that the EU makes between Kosovo and Catalonia is an expression of political interests that have no basis in the international law, Kreca said.
It is a little bit late for the EU to remember international law on its Western border when it was ignoring it on its Eastern border, Marko Gasic, an international affairs commentator, told RT.
Catalonia's leader has vowed to declare the region's independence from Spain in the coming days.
The decision of the Government and the president of the state that Serbia sends a letter to the European Commission with a series of questions regarding the position of the Commission that the cases of Catalonia and Kosovo cannot be compared, is irresponsible and serves for internal political use, representatives of the opposition say, write daily Danas.