Tadic: New talks on Kosovo compromise “sooner or later”
Serbian President Boris Tadic has said he expected new talks on Kosovo to be held “sooner or later”.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Thursday, June 19, 2008
Speaking ahead of his departure for Friday's session of the UN Security Council in New York, Tadic said his position will be to refuse any international presence which does not have the UNSC backing.
"This is the only UN institution which has the legitimacy to create the reconfiguration of the international civilian presence. The UN Secretary-General does not have such authority", Tadic said.
Serbia's president also said that "sooner or later, we will have to reach a Kosovo compromise" since the current situation is neither realistic nor sustainable.
"Serbia will continue its legitimate fight, with the use of peaceful and diplomatic means", Tadic added.
Meanwhile, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic - who will be travelling with Tadic to New York - said he expects that "the results of the discussion at the Security Council on Friday will be such that there is simply no room left for any other pathway toward a reconfiguration of the international civilian presence except through a decision of the Security Council at one of its next sessions, once agreement is reached among all the interested sides."
Asked in what form the EU mission in Kosovo would be acceptable for Serbia, Jeremic said Serbia would find unacceptable a mission that would have as its mandate the implementation of Ahtisaari's plan which was never confirmed by the Security Council because of opposition from Serbia and Russia.
Nevertheless, Jeremic underscored that this does not mean Serbia is not ready to talk about "everything, with all the interested sides within the UN, including the future composition of the international presence in Kosovo that would help toward the stabilization of the situation in the field but not infringe upon the clearly marked red lines of Serbia, which will remain the constant of the state policy on Kosovo."
"That constant is primarily the preservation of the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of Serbia," the Serbian foreign minister underscored.
Asked whether stepped up pressure by the so-called sponsors of the Kosovo independence on the states that have not recognized it yet can be expected following the taking of effect of the Kosovo Constitution, and whether a new wave of recognitions can be expected, Jeremic said "that pressure is rising together with the degree of unease of those who support the independence of Kosovo."
"It is a fact that the unliaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo and Metohija has been recognized by a relatively small number of countries, in spite of the expectations that this number would be much higher. I can imagine that this event can be used and presented as something important and that certain countries will try to use it as yet another alleged argument for someone who has not done so yet to recognize that independence," he said.
"We will continue to use our diplomatic, political, legal resources available to sovereign states to secure that this number of countries should be as small as possible," Jeremic said.
Serbia intends to use its diplomatic activities to prevent Kosovo's accession to international institutions or organizations in which membership is reserved for sovereign states, Jeremic said.
Asked whether there is any real ground, and if so, how much, in Serbia's expectations that new negotiations will be launched on the status of Kosovo, Jeremic replied that "there is no alternative to a struggle using diplomatic, legal and political means to return to the process that would lead to a compromise solution."
