http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Politics&loid=8.0.236934758&par=0
ADN Kronos International (Italy)
December 6, 2005
KOSOVO: EU POLICY SAYS CHANGES TO SERBIA'S BORDERS ARE POSSIBLE
-Rugova said he told Solana that an independent Kosovo will offer full
guarantees to members of minorities in respect of human rights and
freedoms. I continue to insist on direct recognition of Kosovo
independence, said Rugova. He added that independent Kosovo would
peacefully integrate into EU and NATO, with lasting friendship with the
United States.
Pristina - The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, on
Tuesday gave a fresh boost to Kosovo's overwhelmingly Muslim majority ethnic
Albanians in their quest for the independence of the Serbian province,
saying the creation of new states in Europe was not to be excluded if these
states respected European values.
Solana made the remarks at a press conference in the Kosovan capital,
Pristina on Tuesday after holding talks with Kosovo's president, Ibrahim
Rugova, and ethnic Albanian negotiators in Kosovo's final status talks. It
is the first time a top EU official has openly declared that changes to
Serbia's existing state borders are possible.
Its a sensitive moment for me to be with a team which will work in the
interest of what has been a dream of all Kosovars, Solana said after
meeting with ethnic Albanian leaders.
Ethnic Albanians, who form a 1.7 million majority - compared with some
100,000 Serbs remaining in Kosovo - demand nothing short of independence.
Belgrade opposes this and insists on the inviolability of existing state
borders in the Balkans. Although still part of Serbia, the Serbian
government has had no authority in the province, since NATO's military
strikes pushed Serbian forces out of Kosovo in 1999.
Solana said that Europe was characterised by certain civilizational values,
which have to be respected by all who want to be a part of it. Whenever
these values are being defended, when there is a will, there is a room for
new states in Europe, Solana said.
Rugova said he told Solana that an independent Kosovo will offer full
guarantees to members of minorities
in respect of human rights and freedoms. I continue to insist on direct
recognition of Kosovo independence,
said Rugova. He added that independent Kosovo would peacefully integrate
into EU and NATO, with lasting friendship with the United States.
Solana met with Serbian leaders in Belgrade on Monday and representatives of
Kosovo Serbs on Tuesday, but nothing newsworthy came out of these meetings.
Winding up his Balkan tour, Solana will proceed from Pristina to Sarajevo,
for talks with Bosnian leaders on Wednesday.
Serbian News Network - SNN
[email protected]
http://www.antic.org/
