Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said that Kosovo may become a European Union member even thought it would not be a member of the United Nations.

Bildt based his statement in the Switzerland example, saying ""it negotiated the EU membership before becoming a UN member state.""
Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February, can not become a UN member state in the near future because of the strong opposition from Serbia and its ally Russia.
At the end of his two day visit in Pristina, Bildt was sure there will not be recognition of Kosovo independence not only from Russia but from some other countries. ""I don't expect China to recognize, either,"" said the chief of Sweden's diplomacy.
He said that the EU foreign ministers will discuss in Brussels the Kosovo and regional situation in the Western Balkans.
Bildt is the first foreign minister to visit Pristina since ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia on Feb. 17.
He described the current situation on the ground as complicated. At the time of his departure from Kosovo some twenty Serbs protested at Merdare crossing point between Kosovo and Serbia.
Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci unveiled there Sunday morning a table citing ""the Republic of Kosovo"" in Albanian, Serbian and English. Angry Serbs protest ended peacefully.
Serbian President Boris Tadic suggested that Serbia, by joining the EU first, could block Kosovo from joining, Reuters reported.
""Kosovo was recognized as independent by some 20 countries. It will not become independent if we continue to work on it,"" he said on a TV talk-show. ""If we join the EU, then we can make sure that this outlaw state never becomes an EU member.""
Serbia spent almost five months in limbo under a caretaker government in 2007, also under Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, until he and the Democrats hammered out a policy they could both stand by.
Their deep differences meant the government worked in fits and starts, between compromise and crisis, moving slowly on reforms and ending up last in the Balkan queue of EU hopefuls.
Polls indicate the election could produce a hung parliament and a coalition deal might need long negotiations.
""Serbs and other loyal citizens in Kosovo shouldn't worry,"" said Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardzic.
Belgrade is instructing Kosovo's 120,000 remaining Serbs to sever ties with the Albanian government and ignore the incoming EU mission. The Serb-dominated north is a flashpoint for any move towards a de facto partition.
Kosovo's Prime Minister Thaci, who has warned Belgrade against trying to carve off part of the territory, said on Sunday Kosovo had contributed to Serbia's democratization.
""In 1999, when we pushed the police, army and Serb administration out of Kosovo, Milosevic's fall from power started,"" he told reporters at a border crossing where he unveiled a 'Welcome to Kosovo' sign.
""Now, with Kosovo's independence, Kostunica has fallen, the mentality of the past has fallen in Serbia.""
(Source: Xinhua)