Serbia stand should be considered in deciding Kosovo status
09.03.2006, 20.34
MOSCOW, March 9 (Itar-Tass) -- The international community should not make
decisions on Kosovo status without taking into account Serbia’s stand, chairman
of the State Duma committee on international relations Konstantin Kosachev said
at the meeting with chairperson of the coordination council on the Kosovo and
Metohija problem at the Serb government Sanda Raskovic-Ivic.
Kosachev stressed that the theme of the settlement of the Kosovo conflict is
important to Russia. “Our positions on this problem have always coincided with
the stand of the Serb leaders,” Kosachev said.
The head of the committee deplored the fact that approaches to the settlement
in the region had not been decided. “It is yet too early to adopt the ultimate
definition of Kosovo status,” Kosachev said. Besides, he did not rule out that
the attempts of the international community to make a prompt decision on Kosovo
status might aggravate the situation. “It is necessary to consider the
positions of all the sides. Deputies of the State Duma are convinced that the
ultimate decision must not be taken bypassing Belgrade,” the head of the
committee said.
Raskovic-Ivic, in her turn, thanked the Russian authorities for active stand in
support of Serbia. “Serbs count on Russia. We don’t have other such friends who
would share our concerns and would understand the complexity of the problem
that formed in Kosovo,” he said.
The representative of the Serb government dwelt on the problems of Serbs
residing in Kosovo. “Our compatriots constantly come up against aggressive
actions of Albanian population,” Raskovic-Ivic said. She said more than 900
Serbs were killed in Kosovo since 1999, and “all these crimes go unpunished.”
At the same time she stressed that Serbia is ready to give broad autonomy to
Kosovo within the Serb state. “They will have their own president, parliament,
independent courts. But we will be against their creating an independent
foreign ministry and defence ministry,” she said. “If Kosovo receives
independence, this will be a signal to separatist groups in other European
states,” Raskovic-Ivic warned.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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