US Ambassador in Serbia, Kyle Scott said that the decision of Interpol not to accept Kosovo as its member is disappointing for the US, B92 reports.
He added, such an outcome of voting at Interpol General Assembly is a diplomatic victory of Serbia, and congratulated to the Serbian state leadership for that.
Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic said that "not even the support of the Austrian chancellor" had helped get the Pristina authorities in Interpol.
"As they chose who to get to Interpol through - so they managed to do it," Dacic said in a news conference held after the vote at the international police organization's General Assembly in Dubai, that once more saw Kosovo fail to garner the necessary support and become a member.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said today he is proud of Serbia’s struggle, that manage to fight back some of the most powerful world powers and prevent Kosovo to joint Interpol, Danas daily reports.
Vucic added Serbia showed how much it matters to preserve the freedom, integrity and independence, however, we must not be euphoric over the failure of Pristina’s Interpol bid.
Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic has declared a victory in Dubai, where Interpol is holding its General Assembly, B92 reports.
Namely, the latest attempt of the self-proclaimed state of Kosovo to join the organization - which Serbia strongly opposed - has failed.
Stefanovic celebrated with a tweet showing the room where the voting took place, with the word "VICTORY" in Serbian superimposed over it.
The self-proclaimed state of Kosovo has failed to become a member of Interpol in the two rounds of voting on Tuesday, at the General Assembly held in Dubai. B92.net learned this on Tuesday.
The round's result was 76 votes in favor, 56 against, 22 abstained. There was a 20-minute break before the second round.
During that break, B92 learns, "a battle for votes" was in full swing, as there was attempt to "pull out of the hall" where the voting took place the members of those delegations who voted against Kosovo, and in that way reduce the "against" votes in the second round.
Aleksandar Vucic said late on Monday that he is listening “on a daily basis to the wishes of westerners for Serbia to continue the dialogue with Kosovo."
Vucic reiterated that there will be no continuation of the dialogue until Pristina withdraws its measures, referring to an additional tax of 10 percent that Pritina has imposed on goods from central Serbia and from Bosnia-Herzegovina.
During this morning, voting will definitely take place on whether Kosovo will join Interpol. Serbia was outvoted 6-7 on Monday when the (executive committee) voted to include the item on the agenda.
The presiding at the Interpol rejected the request of Serbia and five other countries not to consider Pristina's bid.
China, Argentina, Cyprus, Spain, and Suriname stood with Serbia during the vote on that issue, while our traditional friends the Russians were not against Kosovo's demand.
Spokesperson of the Israel Foreign Affairs Ministry, Emmanuel Nahshon said the position of Israel is clear and this country does not recognize Kosovo, nor plans to do so, Tanjug news agency reported.
“We do not recognize Kosovo, and as far as I know, our stance on this matter will not change,” Nahshon told Serbian media in Israel, assessing relations between Serbia and Israel as excellent, Blic daily said.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic thanked the President of China, Xi Jinping and Ambassador to Serbia Li Manchang for the support that China extended to Serbia in preserving its territorial integrity, Tanjug news agency reported.
During the working meeting with Ambassador Li, Vucic particularly thanked the President Xi, China and delegation of this country in Interpol, for unlimited supported, in respecting the international law, despite strong pressure from some western countries to breach integrity of the Republic of Serbia and enable Kosovo membership in Interpol.
The General Assembly of INTERPOL began on Sunday in Dubai. The most important topic on the agenda for Belgrade and Pristina is the vote on Kosovo membership to this organization, KoSSev portal reports.
Serbia is strongly opposing this, not only because it does not recognize the independence of Kosovo, but because, as officials from Belgrade say, Interpol databases would be “used for criminal purposes“.