European parliament representative for Kosovo, Ulrike Lunacek, said that Serbia must recognize Kosovo or there will not be an EU membership.

“Serbia must recognize Kosovo. I hope this will happen soon,” said Lunacek to the Radio Deutsche Welle.

Lunacek said that EU membership is locked out for countries that have already not recognized others. She said that such policy is because the EU has “learned its lesson after Cyprus”.

Lunacek also expressed skepticism about the possibility that Serbia is even capable of getting a member state status by the end of 2011 despite hopes.

“This remains to be seen, because Serbia must also fulfill some other conditions, such as full cooperation with the Hague Tribunal,” said Lunacek.

Lunacek said that Serbia must arrest Mladic and Hadzic instead of simply repeating that it is trying.

From Kosovo Albanian separatists, Lunacek also wants to see the so-called “clean hands”, Albanians that are not implicated in murders, organized crime and corruption.

Lunacek also said that the Council of Europe “should give evidence to EULEX” about the Albanian organ trade in Kosovo.

Lunacek’s comments come immediately after the European Parliament ratified Serbia’s Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) seen as the first official step towards full membership.

Along with the SAA, the EU Parliament also adopted amendments which say that any talks between Belgrade and the Albanian separatists in Kosovo must not include talks on status of the province. Another provision called for a withdrawal of Serbian license plates from cars in Kosovo because it “violates sovereignty” of Kosovo.

The Parliament also demands that Serbia “integrate” Serbs in Kosovo into Albanian separatist institutions that have been used to ethnically cleanse the Serbs and exterminate Serbian culture in Kosovo.

January 19, 2011
SERBIANNA

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