Portugees voorzitterschap ontvangt Servische Premier (en)
The acting President of the European Council José Sócrates welcomed the Prime Minister of Serbia Vojislave Kostunika on Monday, 16th July.
At the end of the meeting, which took place in Lisbon, Vojislave Kostunika announced that the restart of the negotiations for Kosovo's autonomy may be possible until the end of 2007/beginning of 2008.
The Serbian Prime Minister considered this meeting with José Sócrates as "very important", since Portugal is holding the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union. Kostunika stated that the Kosovo issue may not be regarded as a compensation for a future entrance of Serbia to the European Union. "The problem cannot be looked at that way", he stated at the end of the meeting.
The Serbian leader believes that the issue of Kosovo is very delicate because many Serbians still think of that region as part of their country. "Soon we'll be ready to negotiate and deal with this problem the best way possible", Kostunika added.