Serbia Doesn't Want Kosovo Back, Wants Partition - Deputy PM

Serbian Deputy PM Dacic thinks the partition of Kosovo is logical. Photo by EPA/BGNES

It is unrealistic for Serbia to want restoration of its sovereignty over its former province Kosovo, according to Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic.

According to Dacic, the partition of Kosovo, whose northern corner near Kosovska Mitrovica is largely populated by Serbs, about 10% of the two million Kosovo residents, is the only logical solution.

"That's a reality which even the authorities in Pristina (Kosovo capital) will have to recognize," Dacic told Belgrade television B92 on Wednesday.

Dacic has become the first high government official to advocate partition of Kosovo. He first made such a suggestion in an interview for the Kosovo newspaper Zeri several days ago.

He went as far as suggesting the northern part of Kosovo should be ceded to Serbia in return for Serbia's recognition of Kosovo as a state. He stated that the international balance of power was such that Kosovo as a whole was unlikely to return under Serbian rule.

"It is hard to expect that some Serbian politician would recognize Kosovo because the state's goal is to preserve it. But citizens of Serbia know that partitioning of Kosovo is a realistic solution which will have to be recognized by Pristina authorities as well," Dacic declared.

Minority Serbs, who mostly inhabit northern parts of Kosovo, do not recognize the ethnic Albanian Kosovo authorities, and have parallel authorities.

Kosovo's independence declared in 2008 has been recognized by 75 countries, including the United States and 22 out of 27 members of the European Union. Belgrade and Prishtina are currently holding talks under massive EU pressure but with little result.

Ivica Dacic is the head of the Serbian Socialist Party, which is a partner of President Boris Tadic's Democratic Party in the pro-European government of PM Mirko Cvetkovic.

Dacic was a long-time spokesman of the Serbian Socialist Party when it was headed by Yugoslavian dictator Slobodan Milosevic.

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