http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/05/31/russia_faults_un_plan_for_kosovo_independence
Russia faults UN plan for Kosovo independence Boston
Globe POTSDAM, Germany -- Foreign ministers from the Group of 8
countries clashed yesterday over the future of Kosovo after Russia warned
that a United Nations plan to pave the way for independence from Serbia
could encourage separatist movements in the Russian-backed regions of
Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia. Judy Dempsey May 31,
2007 --> Russia faults UN plan for Kosovo independence At G-8 meeting,
minister warns of impact on Georgia By Judy Dempsey, International Herald
Tribune | May 31, 2007
POTSDAM, Germany -- Foreign ministers from the Group of 8 countries
clashed yesterday over the future of Kosovo after Russia warned that a
United Nations plan to pave the way for independence from Serbia could
encourage separatist movements in the Russian-backed regions of Ossetia and
Abkhazia in Georgia.
During a heated discussion with the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada,
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States, Sergey Lavrov, the
Russian foreign minister, made it clear that Moscow's goal was direct talks
between Serbia and Kosovo before considering the UN independence plan.
"The fate of Kosovo, the fate of Serbia on the whole should be decided
through their direct talks rather than in New York, Potsdam or in any other
formats," Lavrov said at the start of a meeting of G-8 foreign ministers in
Potsdam.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German
foreign minister, publicly disagreed, saying there was a vital need for a UN
Security Council resolution on Kosovo.
"We need to make it clear to our Russian partners that without a decision by
the Security Council we simply won't make any progress on the western
Balkans and Kosovo," said Steinmeier, who is hosting the Potsdam meeting.
The foreign ministers were meeting for the last time before next week's
summit of G-8 leaders in the north German resort of Heiligendamm where
Kosovo will be one of the main issues on the foreign policy agenda. While
diplomats said yesterday they had expected no major breakthrough over Kosovo
at the Potsdam meeting, they were surprised by the tough stance adopted by
Lavrov.
A European diplomat who was at the meeting and who spoke on condition of
anonymity, said Lavrov had compared Kosovo to Palestine. Lavrov asked the
ministers why they were in such a hurry to grant independence to Kosovo
while for 40 years they had failed to support independence for Palestine,
the diplomat said.
The UN special envoy, Martti Ahtisaari, who devoted much of last year to
inconclusive negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo, recommended in March
that the European Union, supported by NATO, would supervise Kosovo's
independence for at least two years. His plan, which was approved by the
Kosovo Parliament but rejected by Serbia's leaders, envisaged a wide measure
of autonomy and protection for the province's Serb community.
The United States has said it would present a new resolution to the UN
Security Council by June. This resolution would legally end the
international protectorate under which the province has been governed since
1999, allowing it to move toward independence. Russia last month threatened
to use its veto if that resolution were presented.
Steinmeier, addressing Lavrov directly during the meeting, asked if Russia
would veto any new Security Council resolution that would end the
international protectorate of Kosovo. Lavrov would not give a precise
answer, according to another diplomat.
Lavrov said that if Kosovo achieved independence, then Ossetia and Abkhazia
would have every reason to claim independence as well. Georgia's behavior
toward the Ossetians and Abkhazians, he said, was much worse than Serbia's
treatment of the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo.
(c) Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
