Joseph Fischer said in an op-ed published in Turkish daily Zaman that “Kosovo’s fate was intertwined with the EU’s own, and if the EU was divided on an issue of the Serb province, its credibility as a foreign policy actor on matters beyond its borders would suffer dramatically.”

“In the coming weeks, the Security Council will decide Kosovo’s status, and Ahtisaari’s bold proposal, which recommends Kosovo’s supervised independence, is the only viable option for the international community and for Europe in particular,” Fischer said.

“Reintegrating Kosovo into Serbia is not plausible,” he argued, adding that since the end of the conflict in June 1999, Serbia had not exercised any governing authority over Kosovo.

In his opinion, Belgrade’s vision of Kosovo returning to Serbian rule, albeit with autonomy, ignores reality.

“Indeed, Serbia has no viable strategy for integrating Kosovo’s two million people into Serbian political institutions and public life,” he wrote.

“Resolving Kosovo’s status is also a necessity for the province’s Serb minority, who continue to live in uncertainty, not knowing whether to look to Belgrade or Priština for protection of their rights,” he maintained.

He warned, however, that the EU would in any case have to coexist with both Kosovo and Serbia. A strong and stable Kosovo will require a cohesive and united Europe.

”Only a united EU can bring Russia on board for a harmonized policy towards the Balkans,” Fischer opined.

“This means that the EU cannot leave Serbia to its own devices,” he added.

He went on to explain that the EU must make it clear that it is ready to support Serbia - and the region as a whole - in realizing its European aspirations. European security is hinged on Serbian integration, just as Serbian aspirations hinge on the EU,”

Nonetheless, Fischer asserted that the price of the EU’s support could not be changed.

“The major war criminals Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadzić must be delivered to the Hague Tribunal. Today, as yesterday, the first step towards Serbia’s European integration is full cooperation with the ICTY,” he said.

“Serbia has a bright future with the EU, but getting there requires that it break with its own past - on both Kosovo and the atrocities of the Milosevic era,” the former German foreign minister concluded.