Q&A -Serbia to continue dialogue efforts with Kosovo -Vucic

Serbia will not recognise the independence of Kosovo at this time but will increase efforts to engage with Pristina, Serbian President-elect Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday.

Speaking in the Reuters Global Markets Forum a day before assuming the presidency, Vucic also said the Balkan region must work to improve its own economy as countries there look towards membership of the European Union.

Here are excerpts from the conversation:

Question: Can we expect more definite steps in terms of settling relations with Kosovo during your presidency? Will you be ready to propose amending the constitution to involve the ultimate recognition of Kosovo?

Answer: I'm going to swear in on the constitution of Serbia, which means that we are not going to recognise the independence of Kosovo, but the thing that is important for us is not only an open dialogue with Kosovar Albanians, but a very open discussion among ourselves, the Serbs, about our future, both political and economic. At the same time, we'll invest huge efforts to boost our conversations and dialogue process with Pristina under the auspices of the EU.

Q: Are you expecting more regional instability, bearing in mind the lack of EU appetite for enlargement. Is the EU message that the region must work more on self-improvement and defining what it really wants before moving on to EU membership?

A: It's an absolute truth that the EU shows fatigue for the enlargement process ... No doubt that we will stay firmly on our EU path but at the same time we will have to do something for our people in the region, and that is why I proposed the creation of a regional economic area (in the western Balkans).

Q: Is it a sort of economic Little Entente? An EU outside EU?

A: Call it any way you want, but for me it's an economic alliance that will provide a better life for the people of the western Balkans. At the same time we will all stay firmly on the EU path, but we need to live before we become full-fledged member states.

Q: What is the status of the troubled Serbian petrochemical plants? Will the government be able to sell them off?

A: We are trying to do so, but still face huge problems that were inherited from the past. Still, we will be very satisfied if we would be able to find a strategic partner who would be able to take care of those companies together with the state of Serbia.

Vucic stepped down as Prime Minister on Tuesday - a formal move which will pave the way for him to assume the presidency on Wednesday

(This interview was conducted in the Reuters Global Markets Forum, a chat room hosted on the Eikon platform. For more information on the forum or to join the conversation, follow this link: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/communities/)

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)