The President of Serbia, Tomislav Nikolic, has told reporters that genocide did not take place in Srebrenica, as the EU has urged the country to reconcile with and recognise Kosovo.
Talking to Italian media ahead of a trip to the country, Nikolic reportedly stated,
"Genocide did not take place in Srebrenica. This is about individual guilt of members of the Serb people. The Serbian parliament condemned this crime, but did not say it was genocide.No Serb recognizes that genocide took place in Srebrenica, and I am no different."
His comments come as the European Union released their annual report on countries looking to join the EU, calling on Serbia to do more if they wanted to achieve member status.
The report called on Serbia to reconcile with Kosovo, "while respecting the territorial integrity of Kosovo and the particular needs of the local population".
However, the Serbian President stated,
"Europe can ask anything except that we renounce Kosovo... In case it was necessary to renounce Kosovo, then it's more acceptable to us to forget about Europe (EU).
“Our goal since 2000 has been (to join) the EU. Reform processes in our economy, judicial system, secret services and public sector are complete.
Now a recognition of Kosovo and Metohija is being made a condition. The
question is not whether we want Europe. The real question is whether they want us. You will have to ask them about that."
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