Serbian Deputy PM says Belgrade will not sign Kosovo deal

Serbia will ask the European Union for more time to negotiate a deal to tackle the ethnic partition of its former Kosovo province, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday, a decision that could cost it talks on joining the bloc.

“The government should propose the urgent and immediate continuation of talks (with Kosovo),” Vucic told reporters. He said the EU-brokered proposal “fails to recognise our basic interests and should not be signed.”