Politika: Importance of Serbian resolution

The draft resolution on Kosovo will be discussed in New York on September 9, and the newspaper writes today that the part of the EU that supports Kosovo's independence cares about having the document either withdrawn or changed.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who was here on Tuesday, in effect only repeated what his German colleague Guido Westerwelle told Serbia's officials last week, says the article.

Meanwhile, top state officials are saying that they will not drop the resolution, although they're aware it might fail at the UN, something, the paper writes, Serbian FM Vuk Jeremic said himself.

Therefore, the article wonders, what is the "secret" of this draft: why does Serbia need it so much, and why are her opponents when it comes to Kosovo so eager to get rid of it?

A diplomatic source spoke for Politika and said that the adoption of the resolution would mean that Serbia would receive the support of the UN, while those who wish to solve the problem with "imposed solutions and diktat" would lose, since "not even they could ignore the General Assembly's position that would be in favor of negotiations".

Their insistence for Serbia to withdraw the draft is simply proof that nobody knows how the voting will go, said the unnamed source, explained that a large number of countries will decide at the last moment, and asserted that Jeremic's comment was "merely a sign of caution".

"All combinations and analyses concerning the outcome of the voting are groundless. Serbia is at this point the target of diktat and imposed solutions," said the source.

Regardless of the pressure Serbia is being exposed to, former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SRJ) Foreign Minister Vladislav Jovanovic believes that Belgrade is still the one holding the key.

"As long as we do not renounce our deed on Kosovo, what the western powers have done with Kosovo is not legitimate, is not final, and cannot ever be finalized. And they know this full well. For this reason they seek our agreement to it, they care so much about us adapting, if not all at once, then in parts. However helpless this position might seem at first glance, in essence it is a powerful weapon that the other side is aware of, and wants to take away from us," said Jovanovic, who also believes that "continued fight via the UNGA means continued resistance of Serbia".

He also believes that Serbia's turning to the UN encourages small countries that care about the principle of territorial integrity, which the ICJ's advisory Kosovo opinion "seriously endangered".

"By insisting that secessions are unacceptable, we are reminding those countries that they are in danger too, and at the same time we are strengthening the front that is opposed to it," the former diplomat believes.