(ANSAmed) - BELGRADE, FEBRUARY 8 - Italy's clear support for
Serbia to be granted candidate status for EU accession is the
main target of a short but packed visit to Belgrade today by the
President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Gianfranco Fini.
Fini held talks with the Serbian President, Boris Tadic, the chair of Parliament, Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, and the Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Ivica Dacic, and tackled both the delicate issue of Kosovo and the state of regional cooperation and developments in bilateral relations between Italy and Serbia.
"I think that we can state clearly that Serbia has finished its exams and has passed them with flying colours," Fini said, in reference to the expectations held by Belgrade, which hopes to obtain the status of EU candidate at the European summit in March. The decision to grant Belgrade the status, Fini added, "will be in Serbia's interests but also in those of the entire European Union, as it will hail a new stage of stability in the Balkans, bringing about the overall improvement in relations in this part of Europe". The EU denied Serbia the status of candidate country at the last European summit on December 9 last year, due to continuing tensions and instability in Kosovo, where the majority Serb population in the north refuses to recognise Pristina's sovereignty. Germany led the way in opposing a green light to Belgrade.
Kosovo was a central part of Gianfranco Fini's talks in Belgrade today. The President of the Chamber of Deputies said that dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina must continue and the deals reached between the two sides implemented. Efforts to find a solution to the dispute, though, must also take the motivations of the respective sides into account. "The international community should understand the motives of both sides and not support one or the other," Fini commented. "As with all complicated issues, the question of Kosovo must be tackled and resolved in a balanced way," he continued, underlining that Belgrade's appeal to the United Nations resolution 1244 is neither inappropriate nor "a thing of fantasy".
Fini also said that he believes that Brussels has not imposed a final condition of a quick deal on Kosovo's participation in international meetings if Serbia's application is to be accepted, but is asking for dialogue to continue and wants to see tangible progress in the talks.
Fini told journalists that President Tadic had mentioned the model of the autonomous status enjoyed by Italy's Alto Adige region as a possible solution for Serbs in the north of Kosovo. "The reference is precise, but at the same time, and Tadic knows this as well as I do, in the case of Alto Adige, the premise is that Rome recognised Vienna and Vienna recognised Rome," Fini said. "It was the European Union that made an important and positive contribution to resolving the Alto Adige issue. It is right to recall the Alto Adige model, but Tadic knows very well that the relationship between Italy and Austria [at the time of the conflict's resolution] was a relationship between two sovereign states, and not like the current relationship between Serbia and Kosovo".
After meeting the leaders of the parliamentary groups for a number of parties, Fini focussed on bilateral relations, underlining Italy's great interest in Serbia, which he said was "a friend and of strategic importance" to Italy. The most recent figures released by Belgrade show that Italy is Serbia's second biggest export partner behind Germany, and the third for imports behind Russia and Germany. (ANSAmed).
Fini held talks with the Serbian President, Boris Tadic, the chair of Parliament, Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, and the Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Ivica Dacic, and tackled both the delicate issue of Kosovo and the state of regional cooperation and developments in bilateral relations between Italy and Serbia.
"I think that we can state clearly that Serbia has finished its exams and has passed them with flying colours," Fini said, in reference to the expectations held by Belgrade, which hopes to obtain the status of EU candidate at the European summit in March. The decision to grant Belgrade the status, Fini added, "will be in Serbia's interests but also in those of the entire European Union, as it will hail a new stage of stability in the Balkans, bringing about the overall improvement in relations in this part of Europe". The EU denied Serbia the status of candidate country at the last European summit on December 9 last year, due to continuing tensions and instability in Kosovo, where the majority Serb population in the north refuses to recognise Pristina's sovereignty. Germany led the way in opposing a green light to Belgrade.
Kosovo was a central part of Gianfranco Fini's talks in Belgrade today. The President of the Chamber of Deputies said that dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina must continue and the deals reached between the two sides implemented. Efforts to find a solution to the dispute, though, must also take the motivations of the respective sides into account. "The international community should understand the motives of both sides and not support one or the other," Fini commented. "As with all complicated issues, the question of Kosovo must be tackled and resolved in a balanced way," he continued, underlining that Belgrade's appeal to the United Nations resolution 1244 is neither inappropriate nor "a thing of fantasy".
Fini also said that he believes that Brussels has not imposed a final condition of a quick deal on Kosovo's participation in international meetings if Serbia's application is to be accepted, but is asking for dialogue to continue and wants to see tangible progress in the talks.
Fini told journalists that President Tadic had mentioned the model of the autonomous status enjoyed by Italy's Alto Adige region as a possible solution for Serbs in the north of Kosovo. "The reference is precise, but at the same time, and Tadic knows this as well as I do, in the case of Alto Adige, the premise is that Rome recognised Vienna and Vienna recognised Rome," Fini said. "It was the European Union that made an important and positive contribution to resolving the Alto Adige issue. It is right to recall the Alto Adige model, but Tadic knows very well that the relationship between Italy and Austria [at the time of the conflict's resolution] was a relationship between two sovereign states, and not like the current relationship between Serbia and Kosovo".
After meeting the leaders of the parliamentary groups for a number of parties, Fini focussed on bilateral relations, underlining Italy's great interest in Serbia, which he said was "a friend and of strategic importance" to Italy. The most recent figures released by Belgrade show that Italy is Serbia's second biggest export partner behind Germany, and the third for imports behind Russia and Germany. (ANSAmed).
