Christofias in official visit to Serbia.Byline: Stefanos Evripidou PRESIDENT DEMETRIS Christofias yesterday backed Serbia's EU accession bid, saying Kosovo should not become an obstacle to its membership. Speaking after a meeting with Serbian President Boris Tadic in Belgrade yesterday, Christofias said: "Serbia, as a European country, should become a member of the EU, if its people and government so desire, regardless of the Kosovo issue". Kosovo was a matter of justice, territorial integrity Territorial integrity is the principle under international law that nation-states should not attempt to promote secessionist movements or to promote border changes in other nation-states. Conversely it states that border changes imposed by force are acts of aggression. and sovereignty and had nothing to do with the obligations and criteria that an EU candidate state should fulfil, he added. Christofias reiterated that Cyprus would never recognise Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence. "Our opinion is that the EU has to support the Helsinki Final Act, the International Law and the UN Charter, instead of recognising the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo. And even if we become a minority within the EU, we will continue consistently to support this policy," he said. Tadic confirmed his country's readiness to fully co-operate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the (ICTY ICTY International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ), as well as his country's commitment towards its European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, economic (and in some cases social and cultural) integration of European states, including some states that are partly in Europe. . Both presidents praised the long standing relations, based on principles, between Cyprus and Serbia. Christofias was also due to meet Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and other state officials. He is accompanied by the ministers of foreign affairs foreign affairs pl.n. Affairs concerning international relations and national interests in foreign countries. and commerce. His two-day visit ends today. Copyright Cyprus Mail Cyprus Mail is a Cypriot English-language newspaper. It is published daily (except Mondays) and a number of articles are available online. Its current chief editor is Kosta Pavlowitch. The managing director is Kyriakos Iacovides. 2009 Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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