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| Europe |
| Serbia proposes territorial swap with Kosovo |
| 2018-07-27 |
| [Al Jazeera] Serbia has raised the prospect of a new deal with neighbouring Kosovo, which seceded from Serbia 10 years ago, that could see the two countries draw up new zones and swap chunks of territory. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that if such a "demarcation" agreement was not put in place, Albanians could spread out throughout Serbia in the coming years due to their high birth rates, in comments published in Serbian media on Thursday. Vucic's suggestions could see North Kosovo, which is mainly populated by Serbians, handed over to Belgrade. In exchange, the region surrounding the southern Serbian town of Presevo, which is mostly populated by Albanians, could be transferred to Kosovo. The influential Serbian Orthodox Bishop Teodosije, who presides over Kosovo, has warned against such a division, as the small Serb minority living in central Kosovo would then increasingly emigrate. In an interview for Croatian news magazine Globus published on Wednesday, Vucic said that he will try to retrieve as much territory as possible. "All Serbs know that they lost Kosovo, but I will try everything in my might to retrieve what I can, so that in the end it's not a total defeat or total loss," Vucic told Globus. Put more simply, Serbia would recognise Kosovo ("but without explicit international recognition") in exchange for northern Kosovo rejoining Serbia, wrote Globus journalist Darko Hudelist. |
| Posted by:Fred |