BELGRADE, Serbia

Germany and France have offered to expedite Serbia’s EU membership process "if we recognize Kosovo’s independence, but this is unacceptable to us," Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Saturday.

“According to this proposal, if Serbia allows Kosovo to enter all international institutions and communities, including the UN, our entry into the EU will be accelerated,” Vucic said in a televised address to the nation.

“They think this will settle one of Europe’s internal issues …(but) Serbia will not accept Kosovo’s membership in the UN for both constitutional and other reasons.”

Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, with most UN member states, including the US, UK, France, Germany, and Türkiye, recognizing it as a separate autonomous country from its neighbor.

Serbia continues to see Kosovo as its territory, while Russia and China are among the countries that have yet to recognize Kosovo’s independence.

According to Vucic, the process to make Kosovo a part of the Council of Europe is likely to start on Nov. 2 or 3.

On the increasing American military presence in Kosovo, he questioned the US’ proclaimed objective of “defending Kosovo’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

“The conclusion we need to draw from this is that the UN’s decisions are not respected … International law has been violated for a long time, and the law clearly works for the mighty,” the Serbian president added.