Serbian PM Vojislav Kostunica told Belgrade's Danas daily on Monday that Serbia "will never give up Kosovo in order to secure a swift accession to the EU".
Rupel said in Ljubljana on Tuesday that from the point of view of the European Union and the West, Kostunica's position that Serbia was willing to sacrifice its European prospects because of Kosovo was "problematic".
Kostunica's advisor Aleksandar Simic told Beta news agency today it was not nice of Rupel to impose himself in the settlement of Serbian issues, that he was not called on to say what was good for Serbia and what was not, and that he should concentrate on Slovenia's issues.
Simic brought Rupel's statement in connection "with Slovenia's earlier positions in the breaking up of "the former Yugoslav federation" and with its role "of promoter of separation and instigator of the subsequent tragic events on the territory of the former Yugoslavia".
Simic said Slovenia's position in the EU was not important enough to make one think that this represented pressure on Serbia.