Serbian Foreign Minister believes it would be good to amend Constitution before EU membership

Belgrade, 13 December 2014 (MIA) - Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic denied that Serbia is pressured to ammend its Constitution in order for the European Union to open its chapter 35 of the negotiations. None the less, Dacic added that changing the Constitution would be a good thing to do. The last, chapter 35 includes miscellaneous issues, and in the Serbian case, it is expected that it will include some version of Serbian recognition of the independence of its former province Kosovo, and Serbian Constitution currently defines Kosovo as part of Serbia.

"Doubtless it would be good for Serbia to change its Constitution before it joins the EU, because in this way, all European objections and suggestions could be included in the new Constitution. But, in order to determine chapter 35, we first need to see full implementation of all that has been agreed in Brussels", Dacic told Danas magazine.

Asked if it's true that Germany has asked Serbia to change its Constitution and erase the reference to Kosovo as part of Serbia, Dacic insisted that no-one has formally asked Serbia to recognize Kosovo as a condition to join the EU. Dacic also said that Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz has clarified his remark that Serbia needs to sign a legally binding document on Kosovo before it joins the EU, and that Serbia sees Kurz's statement as an obligation to normalize relations with Kosovo, not recognize its independence.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008, after it split from Serbia during the 1999 US led military intervention to end fighting between Serbian forces and Kosovan guerrilla groups.