[news] Serbian President *Persona Non Grata* at Rugova*s Funerals

[ANTIC.org-SNN]

Serbian President ‘Persona Non Grata’ at Rugova’s Funerals     Reacting to the wish expressed on Monday by the Serbian President Boris Tadic to be able to attend the funerals of the late Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova, in which he referred to the province as “a part of Serbia’s territorial integrity,” an unnamed Kosovo Government high official told Reuters yesterday that he was not welcome, particularly not after the statement he had made, all Belgrade media reported. While the Pristina daily Kosova Sot described Tadic’s statement as a provocation, since the "Serbian President did not choose the right moment to express his country’s ambitions towards Kosovo," other daily Zeri quoted another unnamed source in the Kosovo Government as saying that no official from Belgrade would be welcome at the funerals.   Commenting on the same issue, UNMIK head Søren Jessen-Petersen stated yesterday upon meeting with the Kosovo Assembly Speaker Nexhat Daci, with whom he discussed the preparations for Rugova's funerals, that the Funeral Committee would be the one to decide on Tadic’s request, while taking into consideration the wishes of Rugova's family. Meanwhile UNMIK spokesperson Remi Dourlot confirmed that UNMIK had received Tadic's request to attend the funerals, and commented that "everything concerning the organization of the funerals is in the hands of the organization committee, including the attendance of the delegations." The Belgrade media recalled that, at the occasion of Tadic’s visit to Kosovo last year, the only one in his quality of Serbian President, his convoy had been pelted with stones and eggs when passing through ethnic Albanians’ areas on his tour of Serbian settlements.   Various international officials, among which the EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, the EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, Slovenian President Janez Drnovsek, and Albanian President Alfred Moisiu at the head of a state delegation, have already confirmed their attendance at Rugova’s funerals.