"No pressure can force Serbia to recognize Kosovo"

[Nevski]

"I trust the UN, to which Serbia has entrusted the care of Kosovo and Metohija in 1999," Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said on Monday.

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During a meeting with new UNMIK chief Zahir Tanin and the new chief of the UN Office in Belgrade, Simona-Mirela Miculescu, the president added that he also respects the sovereignty of his own country.

"Therefore I guarantee that no kind of pressure could force Serbia to recognize the independent of its southern province," he said.

According to his press service, Nikolic stated that the Brussels negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina are "very difficult," and that Serbia is "fulfilling everything it undertook, above all in the Brussels agreement, while on the other hand, Pristina does not want to fulfill a single obligation toward Serbs."

"It is hypocrisy when Albanians, not wanting to meet their obligations, look for excuses in whether or not that is doable according to their constitution," Nikolic said.

Nikolic pointed out that admitting the so-called "Republic of Kosovo" to UNESCO would be unacceptable.

"If it still happens by mere outvoting, the Serb cultural heritage would suffer after that, just as it already happened in 2004, and all would hide from responsibility for such a catastrophic decision, and once again the biggest and the only loser would be the Serbian people, and that must not happen," said Nikolic.

Zahir Tanin said said the UN mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, would continue to operate in accordance with the mandate given to it by UNSC Resolution 1244.

During his meeting with Nikolic in Belgrade, Tanin expressed support for the Belgrade-Pristina talks and implementation of the agreements aimed at stabilizing the situation in the region, the president's press office said in a release.

Nikolic presented arguments against Kosovo's admission to UNESCO, stressing that the campaign was "an insult to Serbia."

Tanin said he was aware how important was for Serbia to preserve its cultural heritage in Kosovo, stressing that it was equally important to the entire international community.