Serbian President: Serbia under pressure to reach deal on Kosovo

Belgrade, SANA-  Serbia has been given an ultimatum from powerful Western nations to normalize ties with Kosovo or face measures that would do “great damage” to the country, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic Monday.

President Vucic’s remarks came during a televised press conference quoted by AFP.

President Vucic said he had been presented a proposal, as part of a Western push to solve long-simmering tensions with Kosovo, during a meeting last week with representatives of the European Union, United States, France, Germany and Italy.

Vucic said Serbia’s parliament would have to discuss the proposal, and hinted at a possible referendum.

Serbia has been a candidate to join the European union for over a decade, and normalizing ties with Kosovo has been a key condition to advance its application.

“Serbia must remain on its EU path … Because we would be lost without it, economically and politically,” Vucic said.

Ruaa al-Jazaeri