Serbian FM thanks Romania for not recognizing Kosovo

Visiting Serbian Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkic on Tuesday expressed his gratitude for Romania's position of not recognizing Kosovo Republic. "I want to once again express Serbia's gratitude for Romania's position of not recognizing Kosovo Republic," said the Serbian head of diplomacy in a joint statement with his Romanian counterpart Titus Corlatean. Romania hailed the recently-closed agreement between Belgrade and Pristina, which took political will, courage and vision, said Corlatean when refering to the normalization deal between Belgrade and Pristina. Corlatean said that the deal, according to the general European-wide opinion, opens up fresh historic opportunities to the European integration process in the Balkans. Last month, soon after Serbia and Kosovo reached a historic accord to normalize their relationship on April 19, Corlatean said that Romania should follow carefully the political dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina, and it would be a big mistake if Romania would not take into consideration the changes and progress related to Kosovo. Kosovo, a Serbian province, unilaterally declared independence in 2008. Serbia refuses to recognize Kosovo as an independent country. However, the European Union (EU) set it as a precondition for Serbia's EU aspirations that the country must normalize relations with neighbors, especially Kosovo. Romania, Spain, Slovakia, Greece and Cyprus are the five non-recognizers in the EU.