Serbia calls for sacking of European Parliament rapporteur over Kosovo
Serbia has asked for the sacking of the European Parliament rapporteur for Serbia, Slovene Jelko Kacin, over his full-fledged support for Pristina’s secession.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Monday, June 02, 2008
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said that "we can no longer tolerate that the rapporteur for our country be a person that openly acts contrary to our Constitution and supports separatists."
"Imagine what would be the reaction of Spain if its rapporteur openly backed separatists...Imagine the situation for only two seconds, and you will realise that our country has full legitimacy to demand that (Kacin's replacement) from the European Parliament," he told reporters.
Kacin, who is rapporteur for Serbia but has been a long-term lobbyist for the secession of Pristina, caused the latest rift when he welcomed the hoisting of the Kosovo flag at a session of the EP- Kosovo parliamentary session.
He qualified the event as "yet another step towards Kosovo integration and its international recognition," after which Djelic announced he would require the official's replacement.
Meanwhile, the Serbian Ministry for Kosovo protested over the holding of the so-called "First-inter-parliamentary dialogue" between a delegation of the Kosovo parliament and EP members, through the EP Delegation for Relations with Countries of South East Europe.
"The Delegation for Relations with Countries of South East Europe is one of the legislative organs of the EU and by holding this meeting, as well as by hoisting the flag of the so-called independent state of Kosovo, it has practically recognized the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo, in violation of international law, showing support for non-democratic means of resolving minority issues in Europe", the statement said.
"Bearing in mind the fact that the declaration from the meeting hails the adoption of the so-called constitution of Kosovo as a document harmonized with Ahtisaari's plan, the Ministry recalls that this plan was never adopted by the UN Security Council as well as that one of the sides in the negotiating process explicitly rejected it. Therefore, Ahtisaari's plan cannot be the basis for a solution to Kosovo's status", the statement underlined.
