Spain: We will never recognize Kosovo

Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs José Manuel García-Margallo stated that the country will never recognize the independence of Kosovo, reports the Patria News Agency.

Margallo, after a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Ivica Dačić, said that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that one of the key pillars for this is Spanish support for Serbia's territorial integrity.

Stating that Spain also supports Serbia's path to European Union membership, Margallo said that economic relations are not in line with political ones, meaning they are extremely modest and should be improved.

Serbia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dačić agreed with his Spanish counterpart that economic cooperation between the two countries is at a very low level, amounting to around 340 million euros last year.

"Since 2005, Spain has invested more than 125 million euros in Serbia through direct investments, and around 40 million euros through donations. There is room for this cooperation to improve, and we will work on it," said Dačić.

According to him, Spain has always been with Serbia, both in supporting the fight against the illegally declared independence of Kosovo and in terms of Serbia's European integration, and stated that we must never forget this.

"Margallo heads a ministry that is currently very engaged in supporting Serbian interests. Spain is a country that is always with us, and its support has not been expressed only in words," said Dačić.

He added that Spain was with Serbia in difficult times and emphasized that these are the foundations of future cooperation, just as the fact that the two countries have maintained good relations for 100 years. The two ministers also added that they discussed the fight against terrorism and the migrant crisis and reached a joint conclusion that they will continue their joint fight, reports B92.