Kosovo, Serbia square off at UN on independence vs. autonomy
© AP
2007-12-19 18:18:40 -
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Serbia and Kosovo squared off before the U.N. Security
Council on Wednesday, with the Kosovars demanding quick independence and the
Serbs insisting that the province remain part of its territory. Neither showed
any sign of budging.
Both sides have supporters in the U.N.'s most powerful body, with the U.S. and
key
European Union nations backing Kosovo's call for independence and Russia
supporting its close ally Serbia and calling for further negotiations.
The council meeting focused on a recent report by U.S., EU and Russian
mediators on two years of talks between Belgrade and Kosovo on resolving the
status of the Serbian province. A four-month extension of the talks ended in
late November without an agreement.
After lengthy discussions, the council's 15 members decided that the meeting
would be closed and Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica would speak as
the representative of his country while Kosovo's president, Fatmir Sejdiu,
would speak in his private capacity as a party to the negotiations.
Although Kosovo formally remains part of Serbia, the southern province has been
run by the U.N. and NATO since 1999, when the Western military alliance ended
former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian
separatists.
Kostunica told the council that it hold's Serbia's fate in its hands, saying
the country's future depends on how members reply to the question of whether
the sovereignty and borders of a U.N. member state are truly respected in the
21st century.
The answer, he said, will have «far-reaching consequences for the entire world
as well.
«Will for the first time in the U.N.'s history a decision be taken _ contrary
to the will of a democratic state and, what is more, of a U.N. founding member
_ to redraw its internationally recognized borders, to abolish its sovereignty
and to amputate 15 percent of its territory?» he said in prepared remarks.
Kostunica called for negotiations on autonomy for Kosovo within Serbia, warning
that the country «will not accept» any unilateral declaration of independence
by the Kosovars, which he said would be «a dangerous development.
He also warned that «if might is but once allowed to decide matters, rather
than conflicts being resolved through negotiations and compromise, nobody
should harbor the illusion that they could not find themselves under attack of
such or similar might perhaps as early as tomorrow.
Hashim Thaci, Kosovo's prime minister-elect, told The Associated Press on
Tuesday that Kosovo is «ready for independence.
«We have no time to lose, to waste,» he said. «We need a decision ... for
independence and qualitative recognition of (the) democratic world. ... We
wasted a hundred years. We fight for our independence. We deserve our freedom.
Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has introduced elements for a council
statement that would back additional negotiations, but Britain, France, the
U.S. and others have said the talks have been exhausted and it is time to
resolve Kosovo's status.
At a European Union summit on Friday, leaders rejected immediate unilateral
recognition of an independent Kosovo. They agreed instead to try to coordinate
a phased-in recognition of Kosovo's independence and left the door open for a
negotiated settlement between Serb and ethnic Albanian leaders.
Thaci, a former rebel leader who won last month's general elections, said
Kosovo would take no unilateral action, but would coordinate future action with
the EU and the U.S.
Earlier this year, Russia blocked Security Council approval of a plan drawn up
by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari that proposed internationally supervised
statehood. The four-month diplomatic effort that ended recently was aimed at
ending the deadlock.
Kostunica told the council the talks failed because of «the explicit promise to
the Kosovo Albanians that they will get an independent Kosovo.
He urged the council to call for the resumption of negotiations without such a
promise, saying he is certain the new talks would then «bear fruit and lead in
a fairly short while to a compromise.
But Thaci, the U.S., and key European members of the council including Britain
and France, say there is no prospect of a compromise.
Assuming that Russia again blocks action in the Security Council, the Kosovo
issue will then move to the European Union.
One European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because no decisions
have been made, said Wednesday's session would bring to an end the council's
discussion and predicted the EU would likely take up the Kosovo issue in
February after Serb elections.
http://www.pr-inside.com/kosovo-serbia-square-off-at-un-r356013.htm
