Serbian President Boris Tadic said in Berlin Monday evening that Serbia expects the candidate status for EU membership and, shortly thereafter, the start of accession negotiations, but that it will not change its stance on not recognizing the self-proclaimed independence of Kosovo.

Resolving the Kosovo issue is too important for both peoples, both Serbs and Albanians, to become a political game of setting pre-conditions for EU membership, Tadic said in a lecture entitled "Serbia as a protagonist of regional reconciliation and factor of stability in the Balkans" at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Berlin.

Serbian citizens want to join the EU and it would be a great loss for both Serbia and the EU if this country were to remain in an eternal accession status, Tadic said.

There is now a consensus in Serbia that EU membership is a strategic goal, and that regional reconciliation and stability are necessary preconditions for joining the European mainstream, he said.

Serbia has been long enough on the sidelines of European integration, the time has now come to be in its center. The modern, democratic Serbia - ten years after the downfall of Milosevic - is ready to begin accession talks with the European Union, the Serbian president said.

He said that Serbia is now looking into the eyes of Europe and saying it has done what it promised, Tadic said, wondering whether the EU will do the same. Tadic stressed that, before entering the EU, Serbia wants to resolve the Kosovo issue, but that a final decision right now would not equally uphold the interests of both sides.

What you know and what is not debatable: Serbia will not and cannot recognize the self-proclaimed independence of Kosovo, the President of Serbia concluded. He said that the problem can be solved only through reconciliation between Serbs and Albanians, and that no reconciliation is possible without talks.

This is why Belgrade and Pristina are holding a dialogue under the auspices of the EU, and I expect the first results already in July, Tadic said. He noted that Serbia expects the UN Security Council to approve an independent investigation into the shocking reports of organ trafficking in Kosovo.

Serbia does not deny the atrocities that were committed against Kosovo Albanians, but there is a tendency that the crimes committed against Serbs before the eyes of the international community are being denied, Tadic said. The integration of Western Balkan countries will not threaten the prosperity and stability in Europe, Tadic said, asking what would happen if the integration does not occur in the foreseeable future.

The Balkan nations and Europe have already paid too high a price of instability, he said.

Speaking about Serbia's cooperation with the ICTY, Tadic said that the last suspect Goran Hadzic will soon join Mladic in The Hague.