http://news.serbianunity.net/bydate/2005/December_02/8.html?w=p
Czech News Agency
Paroubek shocks EU with its stand on Kosovo
December 02, 2005
PRAGUE, Dec 1 (CTK) - Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek (senior governing
Social Democrats, CSSD) has stirred a storm of indignation in the European
circles with his statement on Kosovo, Johana Grohova writes in the daily
Mlada fronta Dnes today.
The reason were Paroubek's statement that the southern Serbian province of
Kosovo, suffering from ethnic conflicts, should be divided. This statement
sharply contradicts the European Union position on Kosovo that Paroubek
himself supported this spring in Brussels, the daily says.
According to Mlada fronta Dnes, foreign diplomats are calling to the Foreign
Ministry making inquiries about the Czech Republic's position on Kosovo.
There is talk in Brussels that the Czech government is unable to stick to
the common position.
"The solution could be the division of the territory along ethnic lines. Its
northern part would be given to Serbia and the majority of its southern part
would gain the status of independence," Paroubek said during his recent
visit to the Balkan states.
However, diplomats are very much afraid of the consequences of Kosovo's
division.
"Everyone fears the division since it could have a domino effect for
instance in the Republic of Serbia within Bosnia and Herzegovina," a Czech
diplomat stationed in the Balkans says.
Paroubek's behaviour shocked diplomats in Brussels, the Mlada fronta Dnes
correspondent in Brussels writes.
One of them said that these are "alarming" steps.
The Czech call for the division is very dangerous, the Brussels EU-observer
Internet daily quoted one of them as saying.
It is mainly Austria that will take over the EU rotating presidency and for
which the question of the west Balkans is to be one of the priorities.
According to certain sources, Paroubek's foreign policy adviser Ivan
Busniak, former Czech ambassador to Yugoslavia, is behind Paroubek's
position.
Busniak was one of the initiators of the Czech-Greek initiative which
expressed support to Serbia at the time of the Kosovo crisis and which was
negatively accepted in the USA and provoked protests on the Czech political
scene.
Former president Vaclav Havel then refused to send Busniak to another
diplomatic post.
According to sources from the Czech Foreign Ministry, Paroubek wants to
press for his solution to the Kosovo problem not only in his media
interviews but also as the Czech Republic's official position, Grohova says.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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http://www.antic.org/
