Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European integration Bozidar Djelic said that all those who believe Serbia can be blackmailed into giving up its national interests in exchange for EU integration are mistaken.

Djelic believes that on October 12 the European Commission (EC) should recommend to all EU member countries to give Serbia candidate status, but that a starting date for EU accession talks is unlikely.

"If it follows the Copenhagen criteria, there is no doubt the EC should recommend status. If it does not, it will show the European path has lost a good part of its own integrity," Djelic pointed for daily Vecernje Novosti.

Djelic repeated his earlier promise to resign should Serbia not get candidate status. Asked if it is possible for the EC to recommend status, and for the EU member countries decide differently in December due to the situation in Kosovo, he said this would lead to major division inside the EU, as many countries believe Serbia has done a lot and is not responsible for the recent events in northern Kosovo.

Commenting on the fact Kosovo customs and police officers have been posted to the administrative crossings and the claim they will be just passive observers, Djelic wondered:

"If this is true, why even post them there? It is not in the European spirit to avoid dialogue on such an important topic, and it is definitely not true that the agreement on the customs stamp included the organization of the crossings, who would be posted there and how customs revenue would be divided. In the presidential statement from the United Nations Security Council, this issue is one of the six items we need to agree on," Djelic said.

He still believes that regardless of the how difficult and unjust the situation is, the solution is not for Serbia to say "a historic no" and become isolated.

"This would only weaken Serbia and strengthen its opponents. We need to continue our European path without illusions and return to dialogue on Kosovo," Djelic said.