Serbs won’t back Kosovo recognition for EU seat – president

Serbs are unlikely to support full recognition of Kosovo as independent in exchange for EU membership, Serbia’s president warned on Friday. Only a compromise can stop Kosovo’s status from festering for decades in a “frozen conflict,” Aleksandar Vucic said. The EU has told Serbia that it could join the bloc by 2025, provided it carries out reforms at home and resolves its differences with Kosovo - a province which declared independence 10 years ago. Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told reporters in Pristina on Wednesday that Serbian “acceptance of Kosovo’s independence” was a condition. Vucic said any decision would have to be put to Serbian voters, many of whom consider Kosovo the cradle of their Orthodox faith. “The people would decide; if you think that can get a majority, I’m not so sure,” he told Reuters.