Eduardo González
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, assured yesterday that Serbia “can count on the full support of Spain” in the defense of the country’s territorial integrity and her Serbian counterpart, Nikola Selakovic, assured that his country will keep “eternally in its heart” Spain’s position regarding Kosovo’s unilateral independence.
“Serbia can count on the full support of Spain with respect to the territorial integrity of the country”, González Laya assured during a joint press conference with Selakovic at the ministerial headquarters of the Palacio de Viana, in Madrid. “We maintain the principle of non-recognition of Kosovo and we have defended in the past, we defend today and we will continue to defend that the Kosovo issue has to be resolved through dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade“, she continued.
The Minister also expressed Spain’s support for Serbia’s accession to the EU, of which it has been a candidate since March 2012, and assured that the Spanish Government will continue to promote European enlargement in the Western Balkans, supporting “the progress in the negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia” and the rapprochement of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union.
Regarding bilateral relations, González Laya announced that this coming Thursday a business meeting will be held jointly organized by the Embassy of Serbia, the Serbian Development Agency and the CEOE, and reported that the two governments are beginning “to weave” a bilateral cooperation agreement and are committed to promoting “bilingual activities in Serbian high schools, where there is great interest in speaking Spanish”.
For his part, Nikola Selakovic assured that “Spain and Serbia are friendly countries that support each other in some aspects of vital importance”, such as “the path undertaken by Serbia for accession to the EU” and the “mutual support for the territorial integrity of both countries, by not recognizing the independence of Kosovo” nor the secessionist process in Catalonia (without expressly mentioning it). “We will forever keep in the minds and hearts of the Serbian people that support, which transcends relations between states and is an endorsement of the law of states and international law”, he added.
“We are committed to dialogue as the only viable solution for a political and diplomatic solution that respects international law and the national interests of Serbia and the people of that territory”, he continued. However, he warned, “Belgrade has so far fulfilled all its commitments and Pristina has not even begun to fulfill its only commitment, the creation of a community of Serbian municipalities”, he lamented. “You cannot ask for everything from Serbia without receiving anything in return”, he warned.
On the other hand, the Serbian minister encouraged “more frequent and numerous visits at the highest level” between the two countries and announced that he had “personally” invited the minister to visit Belgrade. He also called for the “excellent bilateral relations to be transferred to the economic sphere” and expressed his wish that the Serbian-Spanish business forum would contribute to “both business communities being able to initiate a collaboration in business matters that would reach the high levels we already have in political matters”. Nikola Selakovic also assured that “the Spanish language and literature are very important in Serbia” and invited to resume the cultural collaboration “when the direct flights are reestablished”.
