Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar said Wednesday that Ljubljana supports Serbia's endeavors to obtain candidate status for EU membership and the start date for negotiations with the EU later this year, adding that it would not be good to set the recognition of Kosovo as a condition for Serbia in the process of European integration.

Slovenia, together with Belgrade, wants Serbia to get in October a recommendation from the European Commission for a candidate status and the start date for negotiations, and a confirmation from the EU in December, Zbogar said in an interview with Tanjug at the end of his visit to Belgrade.

Slovenia will state this stand within the EU, the minister said, noting that Serbia has done a lot in recent years on the road to European integration and that the extradition of war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic has removed a big obstacle. When it comes to Kosovo, Zbogar considers that Serbia should not be asked at this point to choose between the EU or Kosovo.

It is not good to give an ultimatum to a country. If Serbia is asked to recognize Kosovo, that would be seen in Belgrade as an ultimatum, he said. In Zbogar's view, it is important to first start negotiations on accession of Serbia to the European Union, and to hold the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina at the same time.

The negotiations with the EU will last a couple of years, usually five or more. At the same time, the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristtina will go on. It is likely that after a few years, the situation will be different and a solution will be found, Zbogar said.

He said that at this point, he does not know what the solution will be. I do not know how, but I think that the two sides will find a solution for this situation and that this issue will not be important at the time when Serbia will be entering the EU, he said.