Serbia must clearly state that its goal is independence for Serbs in northern Kosovo and this needs to be the official state position, believes Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic, who said everything should be put on the table for discussion, even exchange of territories.

Dacic said it is time for more decisive action and Belgrade should not just keep parroting the slogan "Kosovo is Serbia."

"If we say we will peacefully watch what the Albanians are doing, that is a disastrous message. Taci must know that an armed attack on the Serbs will not go without a response. I am not threatening anyone, but I am clearly saying that Serbia will defend its people in Kosovo," the interior minister said in an interview for the Thursday edition of the Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti.

Dacic said that some people in Belgrade do not support the road blocks, but noted they are "a protest against the attempt to forcibly turn the administrative line into a border."

Minister Dacic said the time frame in which the crisis in the north has developed is very unfavorable for Serbia, because Brussels is counting on Serbia giving in to all pressures because of its EU candidacy.

"What's more, we have two extremes in Serbia. One says entire Kosovo is ours, and the other it is completely lost and we should recognize it as soon as possible. We do not have a single official or concrete proposal," he said.

Asked if shutting down Serbian institutions in the north is a prerequisite for candidate status, Dacic said this is not written anywhere in the requirements. "That could be a requirement in the end, if Europe wants to set terms which are impossible to meet. This includes the dilemma: Kosovo or the EU, which is a rhetorical question to which the answer is known in advance," he said.

The paper reminded Dacic that German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently explicitly told Serbia that the institutions must be closed, to which he responded: "True, but that same day at lunch she said: "Kosovo could be a federation."

"This is an interesting topic that nobody has mentioned so far," Dacic said.