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Serb Official in Washington Urges US to Reconsider Position on Kosovo
By Barry Wood
Washington
28 July 2007
Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic was in Washington Friday where he met with
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other high-level U.S. officials, mainly
to discuss the contentious issue of independence for the disputed Serbian
province of Kosovo. VOA's Barry Wood reports Serbia's opposition to Kosovo
independence is at odds with the U.S. position.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, right, with Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk
Jeremic, at the State Department in Washington, 27 Jly 2007
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, right, with Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk
Jeremic, at the State Department in Washington, 27 Jly 2007
Speaking to reporters at the National Press Club, Mr. Jeremic said all the
democratic gains Serbia has made since the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic in
2000 will be at risk if Kosovo, against Belgrade's wishes, is declared
independent.
"And if we (Serbia) falter, so will the rest of the region. For just as our
success is guaranteed to propel the Western Balkans forward, real danger exists
that Serbia's plunge back into her recent past could hurl the region back to
the 1990s," he said.
At issue is a proposal put forward by the U.N. envoy on the future status of
Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari. The proposal calls for independence for Kosovo, a
Serbian province with an ethnic-Albanian majority.
On one side, supporting the Ahtisaari proposal, are Kosovo's ethnic Albanians,
the United States and its European allies. On the other are Russia and the
Serbian government. Belgrade instead has proposed autonomy for the Serbian
province.
The Harvard-educated Jeremic, 32, says Serbia wants to work with Washington,
Brussels and Moscow to find a settlement acceptable to both Serbs and Kosovar
Albanians. U.S. and European officials have agreed to allow 120 days for
further negotiations in a last attempt to reach an agreement.
But the Serbian official complained that the position of the Bush
administration, which says it will recognize Kosovo's independence if resumed
status negotiations fail, means Washington has already made up of its mind.
"So, I fail to see any incentive whatsoever for the Albanian side to do
anything during these 120 days (of resumed negotiations) but, like, just
waiting it out," he said.
Jeremic said there must not be a solution in which one side wins and the other
loses. That outcome, he said, would fuel a new cycle of resentment and resolve
to remedy perceived injustice. The future of Albanians and Serbs, said Jeremic,
is membership in the European Union and NATO.
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