German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Thursday called Serbia to "come to terms" with the loss of its former province Kosovo.

"The independence of Kosovo is a reality," Westerwelle said in Belgrade, appealing to Serbian leaders to drop a resolution against the territory's secession which it hopes to push through the United Nations General Assembly in September.

Instead of the resolution, Serbia should open talks with Kosovo, he said, stressing that "reconciliation is only possible when one grasps the reality."

Serbia's plan to seek approval of the resolution has put it on a collision course with the United States and the majority of European Union countries. Twenty-two of the EU's 27 members, including Germany, have recognized Kosovo.

Serbia's draft resolution condemns the secession of Kosovo, though the International Court of Justice in July ruled that it was not illegal, and calls for renewed talks on the status of the province.

In a speech at Belgrade University, Westerwelle said that Serbia, as all other Western Balkan countries, has prospects for EU membership, but warned that the road there was "difficult and arduous."

Those who want to reopen the issue of Kosovo's status, even after the ICJ assessed this was unnecessary, have a lot of work ahead of them on the road to the EU, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said, adding that Berlin is not happy about Serbia's attempt to reopen the issue in the UN.

Westerwelle, told German radio Desutschlandfunk that Serbia will be granted no concessions on the road to the EU, and underlined that this was not the position of Germany alone but of the EU as a whole.

Those who seek confrontation, who wish to reopen the status issue - especially after the ICJ said this was not necessary, appropriate or legally justified - of course have a lot of work ahead of them, and this is what I will tell the officials in Belgrade.

The status of Kosovo has been settled, he said. Germany, together with the majority of EU countries, has recognized Kosovo, he added and assessed that the ICJ opinion clarified that both the recognition and the declaration of independence were in line with international law. We hoped that the ICJ opinion would settle this matter.

Of course, we are not pleased with Serbia's attempt to reopen this issue in New York. As far as we are concerned, Kosovo's territorial integrity is not up for discussion, the German foreign minister stressed.

Westerwelle reminded that the EU countries that have not recognized Kosovo are few and motivated by their own problems with ethnic minorities. We will continue on this path within the EU and influence those countries that have not recognized Kosovo to do so, he said.

A day earlier, Westerwelle spoke of 2011 as the possible date for Croatia's accession, but he gave no target date for the accession of other prospective EU member-states.

Westerwelle arrived in Belgrade from Zagreb Thursday morning and was scheduled to fly to Bosnia later in the day. He was set to visit Kosovo on Friday, in the final stop of a mini-tour of former Yugoslav countries.