Byzantine Blog

Kosovo Independence Will Not Pass

A solution for the future status of Kosovo-Metohija based on the plan drafted by the former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari will not get through the UN Security Council, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov said on Tuesday.

“We have stated that we will not support a decision that is not backed by both parties to the conflict [the Serbs and Albanians] at the UN Security Council. The council will not pass a resolution based on the Ahtisaari plan,” Titov said according to the Interfax new agency.

Itar-Tass news agency reported that Russian diplomat warned that in case of an explosion of violence in Kosovo-Metohija province, Russia would demand that the Security Council considered the question whether it would make any sense to continue the political process.

Zero Tolerance for Kosovo Albanians Throwing a Fit

“Should there occur an escalation of violence in Kosovo, we shall at once demand considering the question whether it will make sense to continue the political process in view of the fact the situation in the territory is not ripe yet,” Titov said, pointing out that it was unacceptable that Kosovo Albanians blackmailed the international community.

“We find it surprising that the Kosovo Albanians are blackmailing the international community with a bloodbath in the province if they are denied independence. This is utterly unacceptable,” Titov underlined, adding that “nothing prevents Albanians in southern Serbian province from leading a normal life.”

The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said that one should not accuse Russia for procrastinations in achieving a solution for the Kosovo-Metohija issue.

According to him, responsibility is not tantamount to guilt, and the guilt for a possible escalation of violence in southern Serbian province will be placed squarely on the shoulders of those who urge such a scenario.

Titov did not rule out the possibility that the European Union might play a greater role in the Kosovo province settlement, adding that a “transformation of the international presence in the territory matching the current tasks would be quite possible.”

Small Slovakia Puts Europe’s Giants to Shame

Unexpectedly, it turns out that almost all of the European Union member states are also coming to their senses, realizing that the U.S. State Department’s blind push to force dismemberment of Serbia through severing of Kosovo-Metohija province, regardless of the consequences, is far from good and can have devastating effect on all of Europe.

While the EU giants seem to be satisfied to merely execute the will of State Department bureaucrats, fulfilling their wishes and acting as the servants of the U.S. government apparatus, small Slovakia has taken a leading role within EU in the struggle for the international law and protection of the sovereignty of internationally recognized states, dwarfing Britain, France and Germany, among others.

EU: No Unilateral Recognitions, Solution Must be Based on UN Security Council Decision

Slovakian Foreign Minister Jan Kubis proposed Monday to the European Union Council of Ministers to include in the joint declaration of the EU-US summit scheduled for April 30 in Washington a provision stating that the solution for the future status of Kosovo-Metohija province must result from a UN Security Council resolution, European diplomatic sources told Tanjug in Luxemburg.

The preliminary draft declaration drawn up by German EU Presidency says that the signatories wish a solution to be found within the UN Security Council, rejecting the possibility of unilateral recognitions by individual states. Slovakia, however, has proposed a formula that such a solution must be found in the UN Security Council, the sources said.

Slovakia’s initiative was supported by all EU foreign ministers, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said, “except for one EU member-state, which is also a permanent member of the UN Security Council,” and that could be only Britain or France.

The EU foreign ministers have expressed worries that it will be difficult to get the US to make a commitment to the stand that a UN Security Council resolution is necessary, approved earlier by the EU, the sources said.

Inconvenient Kosovo-Metohija Refugees, Forgotten by the Enlightened Elite

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Tuesday that Serbian government will ask the mission of the UN Security Council to establish a clear plan and activities for securing the return of 200,000 Serbs expelled from Kosovo-Metohija province to their homes.

“The new reality is that Ahtisaari’s plan has failed, because the very foundations of his plan were illegal and illegitimate,” Kostunica pointed out in a statement for the Tanjug news agency. “It is now necessary to make the most of the arrival of the Security Council mission in the best possible way,” Kostunica said.

“The time has come to open and resolve the issue of the return of 200,000 expelled Serbs, completely forgotten by Ahtisaari in his plan,” Kostunica said.

“Regrettably, we have not heard so far, ever, a determined appeal by the key states of the international community that the issue of expelled persons must be resolved using concrete measures and in a concrete time frame,” the Prime Minister said.

“Serbian government will ask the Security Council mission that the UN Security Council itself should define a clear plan and activities that will secure that all expelled persons return to their homes,” the Serbian Prime Minister said.

“We are confident that Security Council can initiate and secure, with its strong authority, the mass return of expelled Serbs to Kosovo and Metohija, which would create the best possible atmosphere for new and successful negotiating process,” Kostunica emphasized.

Cartoon by Ranko Guzina (Serbia)