http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=08&dd=29&nav_category=92&nav_id=43346
Priština reacts to Dutch FM’s statement 29 August 2007 | 09:59 | Source: B92, Beta *PRIŠTINA -- Maxime Verhagen’s statement <http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=08&dd=28&nav_category=92&nav_id=43332> that partition of Kosovo was acceptable was met with strong criticism in Priština. * On Tuesday, Verhagen said was that he found the division of the province under the umbrella of the UN Security Council acceptable if both parties agreed to it. Following a meeting with the Dutch foreign policy chief, Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu reiterated the firm position of Kosovo Albanians that "independence and territorial integrity of Kosovo were non-negotiable". Ahead of the resumption of status talks in Vienna, Verhagen visited both Belgrade and Priština, conveying a message from the international community that “both sides in the Kosovo conflict should move from their initial positions and be honest in finding a solution.“ “I hope that creative thinking and discussion in Vienna could lead to a situation where the international community would be able to support a UN Security Council resolution on the future status of Kosovo,” he said on Tuesday in Priština. Verhagen has thus become the first foreign minister of a EU member state to officially say his country could agree to Kosovo’s partition. “I would like to point out that I did not suggest partition as a possible solution, rather as an example. If both sides agreed to it, the Dutch government would find it acceptable,” he stressed. Kosovo leaders categorically dismissed discussion of the very notion of partition. “We can never approve of partition. It is unacceptable, and as such it involves not only Kosovo and Serbia, but the entire region as well,” Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku said. “If we start redrawing borders, who knows when and where it will stop,” he stressed. Prior to his visit to Priština, Verhagen met with Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica, President Boris Tadić and Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić in Belgrade.
