Zeman: We have not derecognised Kosovo, but we never sent ambassador to Pristina

BELGRADE - Czech President Milos Zeman said on Monday in Belgrade he had tried to get his country to derecognise Kosovo and that the attempt had been unsuccessful, but that neither he nor his predecessor had consented to Prague sending an ambassador to Pristina.

"I tried to get the Czech Republic to derecognise Kosovo. I would like to remind you that the Czech parliament had called on the Czech government not to recognise Kosovo," Zeman told reporters at a joint press conference with Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic.

Unfortunately, the political situation changed, he said.

"That is democracy, the forces that recognised Kosovo won, and I am not a dictator, but a democratically elected president," he said.

Zeman recalled that neither he nor his predecessor Vaclav Havel had consented to sending an ambassador to Pristina.

He also said he was very...