Merkel: Solution for Kosovo and Serbia cannot be at the expense of others in the region

(Patria) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel, at a meeting dedicated to the Western Balkans in Berlin, stated that a final solution for Kosovo and Serbia "cannot be at the expense of others in the region".

Before the start of the meeting, she emphasized that the conference, which was an initiative, in no way intends to replace the Berlin process or the negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo. She assessed that it is an event where all challenges will be discussed honestly and openly.

Co-host of the meeting, Emmanuel Macron, also stated that tonight all "options on the table" regarding Serbia and Kosovo will be discussed openly.

"We have no intention of imposing a solution on Belgrade and Pristina. We want to consider all options but also to avoid possible new tensions in the region that could arise from the existing options on the table," Macron said, reports Radio Free Europe.

Political representatives of all Western Balkan countries, as well as some representatives of European Union institutions and member states, will attend the meeting. The main, if not the only, topic of the meeting will be relations between Serbia and Kosovo. 

The conference, which begins late in the afternoon, will be divided into two parts: a formal session and an informal dinner, and in both instances, the implications of the relationship between Kosovo and Serbia on the situation in the region will be discussed.

Belgrade and Pristina are discussing the possibility of territorial exchange between the two countries in accordance with ethnic dominance, while major Western powers oppose this, believing it would trigger similar demands in other parts of the Western Balkans, primarily in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The director of the International Institute for Middle Eastern and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) from Ljubljana, Zijad Bećirović, stated for the Patria agency that France and Germany are aware of the fact that elections will soon be held within European institutions, and that these institutions will only start working at full capacity at the beginning of next year, which is why, according to Bećirović, Merkel and Macron convened today's meeting with the leaders of the Western Balkans in Berlin.

"France and Germany have a responsibility towards the situation in the region, because without stability and peace in the Western Balkans, there is no stability within the European Union itself, which is shaken by internal problems, as well as by the migrant crisis that has burdened the European Union in recent years, as well as relations within the Union itself," said Bećirović. 

Bećirović notes that the relations between Belgrade and Pristina are not only creating tension between these two countries, but also creating tension in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, as Bećirović said, "can also be seen from the fascist, xenophobic statements of Milorad Dodik, the Chairman of the Presidency of BiH".

"The statement that one nation must live in one state, referring to Serbs, are outdated ideas. They were largely the cause of the war in BiH in the nineties. No nation can live in only one state," said Bećirović. 

He recalled a recent study that showed that only 20 countries in the world are considered mono-ethnic states, while all other countries are multi-ethnic.