Serbia's foreign minister says Belgrade will say "no" to further European integration if it was forced to choose between joining the EU and fighting to preserve its sovereignty over Kosovo.

Vuk Jeremic was addressing the parliamentary foreign affairs council regarding Serbia's top foreign policy priorities, which consist of protecting its territorial integrity and sovereignty, to become a European Union member state, and maintaining good relations with neighbouring countries.

The foreign minister said that while Belgrade's main diplomatic task is to make sure that the question of Kosovo and European integration never overlap, if they do, "Serbia would have no choice but to say `no' to European integration."

Jeremic's statements may stem from a statement given by the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana this week to Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti, who, when asked if Serbia would have to recognise Kosovo independence in order to become a EU member, said that the Kosovo question was an issue that should be set aside for a later phase in Serbia's integration.

Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia in February this year.

Despite the fact that over 50 countries worldwide and most of the EU has recognised Kosovo, Serbia maintains sovereignty over Kosovo and has made it a staple of its foreign diplomacy programme.

Jeremic said that while EU officials currently say that Kosovo and Euro-Atlantic integration were two parallel processes that do not overlap, there was no guarantee that Brussels' position on the matter would stay like that forever.

Serbia recently received the approval of the United Nations General Assembly to ask the International Court of Justice for its opinion on the legality of Kosovo's independence proclamation, which Serbia claims violates international laws and regulations.

Jeremic sees the General Assembly's approval of its initiative, along with the recently approved plan for the deployment of an EU law-and-order mission in Kosovo, EULEX, which was deployed after much wrangling between Belgrade and the UN exclusively - as key diplomatic victories in Serbia's fight to retain sovereignty over Kosovo.

The young foreign minister has also been criticised recently by several EU officials, for statements made accusing the EU of purposely working to slow Serbia's progress towards membership and constantly imposing new conditions for Serbia's integration.

Source: Balkan Insight