site.btaBulgaria-Serbia Controversy over Kosovo Remark Apparently Defused

July 9 (BTA) - A controversy between Bulgaria and Serbia
over a recent statement by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko
Borissov about Kosovo was apparently defused on Tuesday, when
Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic admitted that his reaction
to Borissov's words was practically irrelevant.

The question about Kosovo arose while Borissov was speaking to
journalists during a Western Balkans Summit in Poznan, Poland
last Friday. He took a question about how the nomination of
Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell for EU High
Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy would
impact the European integration of the Western Balkans, given
that Spain has not recognized Kosovo's independence from Serbia.
 Borissov's reply was: "When such an important post is being
taken, the last thing one should do is to protect their national
 interest; rather, the interests of the entire EU should be
protected. If Borrell is elected, this does not mean that the
opinion of Spain will be authoritative for the other countries
who have recognized Kosovo". On Saturday, Serbia's Tanjug news
agency quoted Serbian Foreign Minister Dacic as saying in a
reaction that the position of the EU is not that Kosovo is
independent, and the Bulgarian Prime Minister, "who claims it
is, should reckon with this".

On Monday, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva told
Serbian Ambassador in Sofia Vladimir Curgus that Dacic's
reaction was unacceptable and did not meet Bulgaria's
expectations of maintaining friendly and good-neighbourly
relations. Curgus noted the emotional character of Dacic's
reaction. "We are all interested in having good relations with
our neighbours and stability in our region," the Ambassador
said.

On Tuesday, Bulgarian Prime Minister Borissov demanded an
apology from Dacic. Borissov was in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo
 for a Summit of the South-East European Cooperation Process
(SEECP). He said: "Ivica Dacic should apologize to me because I
said nothing." Borissov made it clear that he did not understand
 how he had offended the Serbian Foreign Minister.

In the presence of the other SEECP leaders, Borissov asked
Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic: "What exactly does Ivica
Dacic want? You, too, were at that briefing in Poznan. What was
wrong with my statement? If there was something unacceptable,
Ana, why did you not react back in Poznan? I can be quite
unacceptable, and I can be undiplomatic, but Serbia would stand
to gain nothing from that, least of all the people of Serbia and
 Bulgaria."

Asked by reporters whether the controversy has ended, Brnabic
said: "We have very good relations. There is no need for
tension. We put a stop to it."

Meanwhile, Serbian Foreign Minister Dacic said in Slovakia: "The
 Bulgarians got the impression that I was attacking Boyko
Borissov, but in fact I reacted to something that Borissov never
 said. [...] I want to say that the matter is closed. As Boyko
once said, we should keep going forward." The quote was provided
 in a press release by the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry.

Dacic made the remark during talks with Bulgarian Foreign
Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva in the sidelines of an informal
meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe, taking place in the Slovak resort of
Vysoke Tatry, Zaharieva's ministry reported.

The chief Bulgarian diplomat said that Prime Minister Borissov's
 statement in Poznan was politically and legally correct, while
Dacic's reaction was absolutely unacceptable for Bulgaria and
did not contribute to Serbia's friendly relations with Bulgaria.
 "The fact that 23 EU member states, including Bulgaria, have
recognized Kosovo's independence should not hinder our bilateral
 relations. Bulgaria has always supported Serbia in its European
 integration," Zaharieva commented.

Dacic said: "Boyko Borissov's words were obviously
misinterpreted. I was surprised mainly by what our media
reported. As the Minister [Zaharieva] and I analyzed, Prime
Minister Borissov was actually responding to a question about
whether Josep Borrell would be biased because Spain has not
recognized Kosovo's independence. I think this put his statement
 in a very different context."

The Serbian Foreign Minister went on to note: "I have cooperated
 with Boyko Borissov for many years. I was surprised by how his
words were interpreted by our media. Minister Zaharieva and I
sorted out all that. We want good relations with Bulgaria,
friendly, allied and strategic relations, because this is in the
 best interests of our two countries and peoples. We are
grateful to Bulgaria for helping us in our European integration.
 Bulgaria can rely on Serbia, too." LY/VE