Serbs Suggest Hong Kong Model for Kosovo
Nov 5, 5:51 PM (ET)
By VERONIKA OLEKSYN
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Serbian leaders on Monday suggested Hong Kong might
serve as a model in negotiations on Kosovo's disputed future status, but Kosovo
officials immediately rejected the idea and talks ended without progress.
Serbian President Boris Tadic told officials at internationally mediated talks
that the Hong Kong model would grant Kosovo the autonomy to rule itself, while
cooperating with Serbia, according to the Belgrade-based Beta news agency.
Under the model, international borders would not be changed and neither of the
two sides would be allowed to make unilateral decisions on constitutional or
sovereignty issues, Tadic was cited as saying.
After 156 years of British rule, Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997,
with the promise that the city would enjoy a wide-degree of autonomy from the
Communist mainland. The territory retained its capitalist economy,
British-style legal system and civil liberties.
"What is important in this Hong Kong model is its meaning - that if people
agree, things can work," Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica told reporters,
adding it was only meant as an example. No one was thinking of "transplanting
the case of Hong Kong to Serbia," he said.
A Kosovo negotiator condemned the proposal as irrelevant to the province's
situation and said the talks had stalled.
"It is entirely inappropriate because the historic background of Kosovo and
Hong Kong differ so much," said Skender Hyseni.
Although the breakaway province formally remains a part of Serbia, it has been
under U.N. administration since 1999, when NATO airstrikes ended former
Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.
A document intended to create a framework for negotiations appeared to be a key
sticking point at the talks.
Hyseni blamed "Belgrade's position and attitude" for the lack of progress.
Tadic also told reporters no progress had been made after both sides met with
mediators from the U.S., Russia and the European Union.
During a previous round of talks last month, the the three nations presented
the two sides with a 14-point proposal that, among other things, said Belgrade
will "not re-establish a physical presence in Kosovo."
The document also said the international community would retain a civilian and
military presence in Kosovo even after its status is worked out.
Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, in comments to reporters Monday, insisted
that the document should explicitly mention a U.N. Security Council Resolution
that defines Kosovo as a part of Serbia.
Ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people, insist
on independence, but Serbia has said it would never recognize a Kosovar state.
The mediators must report to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the progress
of negotiations by Dec. 10. The next round of talks are scheduled for Nov. 20.
But the Russian representative suggested that the likelihood of a negotiated
agreement was fading fast.
"In principle, I believe there is (a) chance of (a) compromise solution ... but
this chance is very slim," Russian diplomat Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko said.
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Associated Press writer Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed to this
report.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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http://www.antic.org/
