Acrimony over Kosovo overshadows Balkan meeting
The Associated Press Published: February 28, 2008 SOFIA, Bulgaria <http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/28/europe/EU-GEN-Balkan-Meeting.php> : Acrimony over Kosovo's declaration of independence overshadowed a Balkan foreign ministers meeting Thursday, with Serbia making good on its pledge to try to block the new country from joining international organizations. Although Kosovo was attending the meeting, the first regional gathering of foreign ministers since Kosovo declared independence on Feb. 17, it was doing so under the banner of the U.N. rather than as a sovereign country. This, Serbia's foreign minister stressed, was the only way he could accept Kosovo's presence. "Once Serbia is at this table, Kosovo will not be at the table as a participating member state," Vuk Jeremic told reporters outside the meeting, adding that he was "very adamant" on this point. "Kosovo will not be a member of the United Nations; it will not be a member of the OSCE. And as such it will not belong to the world community of sovereign nations," he told delegates during the meeting. Besim Beqaj, chair of the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, was attending as part of the U.N. delegation from Kosovo. But Jeremic did not stay in the meeting when Beqaj took the floor. Beqaj said he spoke "on behalf of the Republic of Kosovo ... and I did request that from now on the Republic of Kosovo should be part of all regional bilateral and multinational approaches." "The Serbian delegation did not stay in the room when I spoke," he said. Beqaj stressed that Kosovo was seeking to become a full-fledged member of international organizations, and that "we expect that Belgrade will continue with its steps toward Europe, not toward conflicts in the region." Serbia, which considers Kosovo the heartland of its national identity, has been outraged by the province's declaration of independence. It has vowed never to allow the state to be fully recognized internationally, and has warned that it will downgrade its relations with any country that does recognize it. Belgrade will appeal to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, over the legitimacy of the declaration, Jeremic said. "I'm making a very strong appeal to all the countries in the world, and especially the neighboring countries, to withhold their decisions until the ICJ ruling comes in," Jeremic told reporters. "I think it would be the very least the countries can do to contribute to peace, stability and good neighborly relations." Recognition of Kosovo would amount to an attack on Serbia, Jeremic stressed. "There can be no peace and stability in the region if there is a direct attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of your neighbor," Jeremic said. "I hope we don't get in a situation where our neighbors start making unilateral acts that have as their effect an attack on our sovereignty and territorial integrity." The meeting's Bulgarian hosts faced a delicate balancing act, and threw a positive light on the event. The fact that both the Kosovo and Serb delegations sat at the same table "a short while after Kosovo declared independence by itself is ... very important," said Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin. "Regional cooperation should include all," Kalfin said. "There should be no parties that are isolated ... or others that are barred from participation." ___ Associated Press writer Veselin Toshkov contributed to this report
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