BELGRADE Feb 13 NATO backs «Franco-German» The Western plan for a settlement in Kosovo and Metohija expects the Serbian leadership to support it as well, said Javier Kolomina, Deputy Assistant Secretary General of NATO.
On Monday Kolomina was received in Belgrade by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic.
«We know that the Franco-German proposal, the proposal of the EU and NATO, is on the table and strongly supports the EU efforts in this matter. I have conveyed to your president and head of diplomacy Dacic that NATO will support this plan, and we expect Serbia to support the efforts EU,» Kolomina told reporters and added that he would report the same to the authorities in Pristina.
The assembly (parliament) of Serbia, after two days of debate with the participation of the president, on February 3 approved the government's annual report on the negotiations on Kosovo and Metohija and the situation in the region. The President of Serbia announced to the parliamentarians 10 points of the program of the country's leadership in the face of external pressure. Among them are the preservation of peace and stability, the demand to form a community of Serb communities in Kosovo and Metohija, ensuring the security of Kosovo Serbs, attracting foreign investment to Serbia, and so on.
Vučić repeatedly and clearly repeated that he «will never recognize Kosovo's independence and is against Pristina's entry into the UN.»
He also stated that Belgrade will continue the policy of military neutrality and «will try to hold out as long as it can without imposing sanctions against the Russian Federation.» The armed conflict in Ukraine, in his opinion, is growing into a third world war, and Western countries are increasing pressure on Serbia due to their refusal to support sanctions against the Russian Federation.
Vučić said earlier that the country's authorities have not yet agreed and have not signed the latest Western proposals for a settlement in the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, which involve the gradual entry of the territory into the Council of Europe, UNESCO and the UN without Belgrade's formal recognition of independence. He also noted that it is no longer correct to call this plan «Franco-German», since it is being promoted by both Brussels and the United States. At the same time, the content of the proposal of the West is not disclosed in detail.