Bush—Ceku Hostage Crisis
James Jatras: Washington Has No Support for Unilateral Moves
Speaking for the Ottawa based Serbian radio program “Monday’s Encounter” Director of the American Council for Kosovo James Jatras explains why is the withdrawal of Washington-sponsored new resolution draft from the UN Security Council good news for the Serbs.
“If they were determined to try to impose the solution outside the Security Council,” Jatras said, “they would have gone forward with the vote knowing that the Russians would have vetoed it. They would use that as a pretext to say: ‘Now you see we don’t have any other choice but to try some other way.’”
“The fact that they did not even do that but rather they pulled back is to me an indication that they don’t have enough strength and the Washington government cannot count on the support of the European countries for a solution outside the Security Council. It means they are taking a step back. They may even go back to blabbing for a while in the Contact Group to figure out what their next step is,” said Jatras.
Kosovo Province Issue Cannot be Settled Outside the UN SC
“Certainly it cannot be settled in the Contact Group. Solana said the other day they would figure out something outside of the Security Council and go to the Contact Group. How can the Contact Group settle anything? There is no standing of a Contact Group under any concept of the international law,” Jatras explained.
“The Contact Group has no weight to supplant the statement from the Security Council in the Resolution 1244. It is simply an informal talk shop. They would have to go back to the Security Council or find some pretext for the unilateral declaration on independence and see whether Washington can force that through against the Russian opposition and cause a complete confusion among the Europeans.”
War Criminal Ceku in Washington: Who’s Holding Whom?
“Frankly, the big question here is: Is Bush Ceku’s hostage, or is Ceku Bush’s hostage? It is not entirely clear if Bush is now in the position where if Ceku goes ahead with the declaration on independence, will he feel bound to recognize it? To the contrary, is Ceku in the position where he cannot move forward without Bush giving him a green light? It is becoming very clear with the more general collapse of the authority of the Bush administration, not only internationally but also even domestically, that they are going to have trouble delivering promises they had made to Albanians all these years. The latest developments in the Security Council show that neither Moscow nor Belgrade are letting any kind of trickery get pass them. I am glad to see that Belgrade appears to be very united on a very clear and principled position, which will be clearer in any further negotiation that takes place now,” concluded Jatras.
Cartoon by Milenko Kosanovic (Serbia)