Serbian Ministry for Kosovo State Secretary official dubs Feith moves “dangerous”

Feith, who heads the International Civilian Office (ICO) in Pristina, and is also EU's special representative in Kosovo, said recently that a plan for "integration of northern Kosovo" was being drafted.

"EU Special Representative Pieter Feith and the International Civilian Office (ICO) in Pristina tend to annul and eliminate UNMIK in Kosovo," Ivanovic said in a statement for the Serbian state broadcaster RTS.

"It makes sense that we will not agree with that, because the UN [presence] is for us a consequence of a Security Council decision and [Resolution]1244 decision, that gives us a right to keep fighting for the preservation of our territorial integrity."

Commenting on the initiative coming from some representatives of the international community and ethnic Albanians' goal to "integrate" the northern, dominantly Serb areas, Ivanovic said that this is "a dangerous action of Pieter Feith, who has the support of the Kosovo government".

"It is in their mutual interest to prove that they can introduce what they call law and order in the north of Kosovo," Ivanovic said, adding that Feith and ICO did not manage to "prove their justification", and are now facing a "serious problem", namely, a report which they will submit by mid-2010.

According to Ivanovic, this report "should bring about personnel changes, and reorganization of this office or the international mission".

On the issue of the announced "integration", the state secretary pointed out that Serbia "will not agree with such actions" and that local elections scheduled for April "will elect credible people".

According to him, if Serbian institutions were to shut down in Kosovo, there would be "little chance for Serbs to stay and live there, and because of that it is important to elect a competent local self-government which will regulate the situation in Kosovska Mitrovica".

Although Feith's statements "sound resolute", Ivanovic told, the Serbian institutions will not be withdrawn.

"If the government intended to withdraw our institutions, it would not have organized local elections in Kosovo and Metohija in 2008, and as you know Kosovska Mitrovica plays a central role," he concluded.