Serbia calls UN to annul Kosovo’s declaration, Tadic to participate at UN SC session on Monday
Serbia has called on the UN to annul Pristina's declaration of independence, while its president Boris Tadic has said he would participate at Monday’s session of the UN Security Council.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, April 18, 2008
"Serbia calls on the United Nations and all its member countries to fully observe its sovereignty and territorial integrity and reject the illegal and unilaterally proclaimed independence of the province of Kosovo and Metohia, and expects at the same time from the UN representative in the province to undertake corresponding steps", said a commentary to the report UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has prepared for the UN SC session on Kosovo scheduled for April 21, which deals with the work of UNMIK over the past three months.
"The crucial event in those three months is a secession of part of the territory of the Republic of Serbia, a sovereign country and a member of the UN, which was performed by the Provisional Institutions of Self Government (PISG) that declared the independence of the Kosovo-Metohia province", the Ministry underlined in the text.
"The act of secession is in contradiction with the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act (OSCE), with the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and international documents - UN SC Resolution 1244 (1999) and the Military Technical Agreement (1999) - on the basis of which the province was temporarily governed by UNMIK and KFOR", it said.
"Reminding that the unilateral proclamation of independence by secessionists in the Kosovo-Metohia province represented a threat to the stability of Serbia an the region itself, the Ministry pointed to the fact that the support of certain UN member states to Kosovo-Metohia Albanians and the recognition of their unilaterally proclaimed independence represented a precedent", the document added.
"Having recognised the independence, these UN member countries recognised the right to secession of part of the territory of one of the body's member countries without its consent ... With the recognition, these members of the UN acknowledged the right to self-determination and secession to the members of an ethnic minority, and with their recognition, these UN member countries gave legitimacy to ethnic cleansing", the commentary reads.
"The attempt of imposing a solution as fait accompli brings into question the authority of the UN Security Council and violates the sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia", it adds.
"Serbia demands an urgent renewal of UNMIK's original mandate, all in keeping with Resolution 1244, the UN Charter and the principle of impartiality", underlines the text.
The Ban Ki-Moon report will be discussed at the Monday session in New York, with the participation of President Boris Tadic.
Tadic will use the participation at the session to meet with UNSC member-states' representatives.
Meanwhile, Tadic told in an interview in Belgrade that it he was to decide between the EU and Kosovo, he would decide in favour of the country's integrity.
"If at the end of my mandate I will have to choose between the European future and the integrity of my country, I will choose integrity", Tadic underlined in an interview for the Belgrade weekly Standard.
