Serbia Says U.S. Wants Kosovo To Be 'Satellite State'
Serbia's Samardzic heading to Kosovo negotiations in 2006
(epa)
August 15, 2007 -- Serbia today accused the United States of seeking to create
a "satellite state" out of the breakaway province of Kosovo.
Serbia's government minister for Kosovo, Slobodan Samardzic, said it is crucial
that NATO and the United States give up what he called their project "of
creating a satellite state" from the southern Serbian province.
His statement to local media is the latest in a series of Serbian accusations
against the United States over its support for independence for Kosovo, where
the ethnic-Albanian majority -- some 90 percent of the province's 2 million
people -- is seeking independence from Serbia.
Kosovo leaders say they expect to achieve independence in 2007, and have
threatened to declare independence unilaterally. EU, U.S., and Russian
negotiators are due to recommend a new proposal for resolving Kosovo's status
to the United Nations by December 10.
Meanwhile today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Kosovo of using
the threat of chaos to blackmail Western states into granting the province
independence.
In an article published in the online magazine "Russia In Global Affairs,"
Lavrov said Western countries "are inclined to give in to blackmail" and
threats of "violence and anarchy."
(globalaffairs.ru, Reuters, AP)
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