Serbian academic: Kosovo de facto not part of Serbia

Tibor Varady, a Serbian academic who represented Serbia in international processes, has said that internal dialogue for Kosovo's future is very important.

He has welcomed the Serbian president's statement for such a dialogue, since he claims it is the best possible solution.

In an interview for Tanjug, Varady has said that Kosovo now is not part of Serbia, and as such the Serbian state cannot preserve something that does not belong to him.

“We need to know that Kosovo is not part of Serbia, no matter what we want. It is neither legislative, administrative, nor judicial. In this situation if we say we are preserving Kosovo, it is not adequate rhetoric”, the Serbian academic has said.

According to him, this is evidenced even by his non-extradition in Serbia, while in Strasbourg.

Asked about the similarities between the peoples of Kosovo and Serbia, he said they are completely different.

The reality is that in Kosovo there are about two million people, out of whom over 90% have a completely different political and social culture with Serbs”, he said.

He believes that even in Europe it is indisputable that negotiations should continue on how the two peoples will live.

Varady does not believe consensus is possible, but reiterates that internal dialogue is very important.

The Serbian academy also said the International Court of Justice ruling, which is used as an argument for Kosovo's independence, is not fair.