Serbia and Kosovo continue their tug ‘o war at the UN
Fri, Sep 25 2009 12:34 CET <http://www.sofiaecho.com/search.php?stext=Clive%20Leviev-Sawyer> byClive Leviev-Sawyer 600 Views <http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/09/25/789553_serbia-and-kosovo-continue-their-tug-o-war-at-the-un#comments> 10 Comments 1 of 1 In a brief encounter – no more than a handshake and a few words – Kosovo president Fatmir Sejdiu thanked US president Barack Obama for Washington’s support for Kosovo. According to Kosovo media, the exchange took place at a reception hosted by Obama, a passing moment as top-level representatives of Belgrade and Pristina continue their battle in and around United Nations headquarters in New York over the issue of Kosovo’s self-declared independence. Serbia, as a UN member state, has the right to speak in a scheduled General Assembly debate on Kosovo. But Kosovo, while it is recognised by most EU member states and a number of UN states, has no status at the UN beyond that of observer. Sejdiu also had contact with some of the leaders of countries that firmly reject Kosovo’s February 2008 unilateral declaration of independence, including Spain and Cyprus, said Kosovo media on September 25 2009, quoting a statement from Sejdiu’s office. The statement said that Sejdiu had met the president of Macedonia, Turkey’s prime minister, the prime ministers of Nepal and of Grenada, the deputy prime minister of Jamaica, as well as Portugal’s foreign minister. Serbian president Boris Tadic was scheduled to address the General Assembly on September 25, and said beforehand that he was sure that his speech would persuade UN member states that had not recognised Kosovo to continue not to do so. Tadic has had rounds of meetings of his own, including with Obama, Russian president Dimitry Medvedev – Moscow is a stout ally of Belgrade; European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, among others, Serbian news agency Tanjug said. In all these meetings, Tadic underlined Belgrade’s key point that recognition of Kosovo as independent is a violation of Serbia’s territorial integrity and of international law http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/09/25/789553_serbia-and-kosovo-continue-their-tug-o-war-at-the-un
