Ahtisaari: Who cares about Paraguay’s recognition? It’s the wealthy that count
Martti Ahtisaari, the former Finnish president who led the Kosovo status process, argued that it did not matter that the Serbian province had been recognised so far by only 51 of the world's 192 countries
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Monday, October 20, 2008
That was less important than the economic clout of the nations that did recognise Kosovo, including the US and most of western Europe.
"It really doesn't matter if Paraguay hasn't recognised," Ahtisaari said. "Well over 65% of the wealth of the world has recognised. That matters."
Ahtisaari said Serbia would have to recognize Kosovo if it wanted to join the European Union.
"You can't be poking the EU in the eye [while] saying you want to join EU," he said.
Although he was supposed to be an impartial mediator, Ahtisaari admitted he had sent private messages to all parties soon after taking his role as mediator, that Kosovo's secession was inevitable.
"[I said] in light of what had happened in Kosovo, the return of Kosovo to Serbia is not a viable option," Ahtisaari said. "So since March 2006 no one should have had any illusion what my plan was going to be."
Ahtisaari's plan for the independence of Kosovo was rejected in the UN Security Council, but parts of his plan are implemented unilaterally by the Kosovo Albanian authorities in Pristina.
