Azerbaijan to support Serbia in UN, Slovakia is against recognizing Kosovo
Azerbaijan will vote in favor of Serbia's Kosovo resolution during the upcoming UN General Assembly session, Ambassador to Serbia Eldar Hasanov said for Belgrade daily Danas. Slovakia's Foreign Minister Mikulas Dzurinda said that his country is against recognizing Kosovo.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Tuesday, August 24, 2010
The envoy also said that a considerable number of Islamic countries will follow suit and support the Serbian draft.
As the UN General Assembly meets in New York on September 9, Azerbaijan's own resolution, concerning its secessionist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, will be first up for vote.
Hasanov told the newspaper that there were similarities between Kosovo and Nagorno-Karabakh, as both Serbia and Azerbaijan have had their territorial integrity and sovereignty violated.
The ambassador noted that his country supports initiatives to solve the issue peacefully, and explains that the territory is "historically Azerbaijani, occupied by Armenian forces".
Hasanov noted that his country was convinced that international law, territorial integrity, inviolability of borders and sovereignty of his county would be respected, and added that Baku will "never allow for the territory to remain occupied".
"We support Serbia's position within the UN and other international organizations, as we did at the International Court of Justice. We believe that Serbia's stance on Kosovo is completely right. A large number of countries will on September 9 support Azerbaijan's position. I hope the same will be true of Serbia's. Belgrade will be supported at the UN by a considerable number of Islamic countries," the ambassador concluded.
The daily's sources in Belgrade also said that Serbia will work to convince a number of primarily Islamic countries that will support Azerbaijan's draft, to, for principled reasons, support the next item on the agenda: Serbia's Kosovo resolution.
Slovakia's Foreign Minister Mikulas Dzurinda said that his country is against recognizing Kosovo.
He also stressed that the "unilateral secessions is not in the interest of Europe".
"If Serbs now feel cheated, I can understand that," Dzurinda told Austrian daily Die Presse, recalling that UN SC Resolution 1244, that ended the 1999 war over the province, envisages only a substantial autonomy for Kosovo.
