"This will be a debacle, Pristina will regret even trying"

Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic says he is almost certain that Kosovo will not manage to join Interpol, regardless of the massive pressure.

"The pressure (in favor of this outcome) is extremely powerful and strong with the backing of Western and Islamic countries," the minister told Tanjug.

He added that the Albanians are even examining the possibility of paying travel expenses to those delegations in Dubai - where the Interpol General Assembly will meet later this months - and who can't afford it - and "and who knows what else."

Dacic recalled that in order to get the votes, Kosovo has also allocated funds from the budget for lobbying, or, as he puts it, for corruption. However, the minister estimates that this is a "dud" approach and that the voting itself will reveal the level (of support Prisina enjoys).

"Since they keep telling me that what I'm doing about the withdrawals of recognition (of Kosovo) are lies - the voting will show how many votes they have. Therefore, they would have been better off never even applying for membership because this is going to be a debacle," Dacic told Tanjug.

Asked about the extent to which members of the Interpol executive committee are interested in the fact that Kosovo does not fulfill the organization's own conditions for becoming a member, Dacic said that "it is not a problem for them to violate the Statute, as has already happened in the past when they wanted to achieve their goals."

"Some western countries have been sending to all Interpol members a letter stating that they should vote for Kosovo - and then someone is complaining that we are lobbying for someone not to recognize Kosovo. These are cynical objections, but obviously they are bothered, and they are being bothering because they (the withdrawals) are obviously not lies," Dacic said.

Unlike in Intepol, "where some countries that do not...

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