Byzantine Blog

New Negotiations Based on Existing Resolution 1244

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica is in Portugal today on a one-day visit, during which he is expected to meet with top Portuguese officials. Portugal has taken over the EU Presidency since the end of June.

According to Tanjug, after meeting his Portuguese counterpart Jose Socrates, Serbian Premier said that the new draft resolution on Kosovo-Metohija province submitted to the UN Security Council is unacceptable to Serbia and that new negotiations should be held on the basis of the existing UN SC Resolution 1244.

The negotiations must not be conditional and their outcome cannot be predetermined, therefore the negotiations should be initiated on the basis of Resolution 1244, which has an important advantage of conforming to the UN Charter and to the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity, Kostunica said.

If the new draft resolution, based on Martti Ahtisaari’s plan which has not been approved either by the UN Security Council or by the Contact Group and which involves a predetermined solution, is taken as a starting point, there will be no progress in reaching a reasonable, stable and sustainable settlement, he added.

Solve the Problem by Resolving to Stick to the Law

The problem of the southern Serbian province can be easily resolved by firmly abiding to the principles of the international law, the UN Charter and honoring the territorial integrity of states, which means that Serbia cannot be an exemption, Kostunica said, stressing that the agreement can be reached effortlessly if the goal is to find a compromise that would suit both Belgrade and Pristina.

Potential independence of Serbian Kosovo province would constitute a dangerous precedent for many other countries in the region and elsewhere, said Kostunica, noting that claims that Kosovo province is a unique case are a nonsense.

There already are separatist movements certain they would benefit from potential Kosovo independence, he noted, emphasizing that severing of the Serbian province absolutely must be prevented by legal means, in line with the UN Charter.

Prime Minister Kostunica reiterated that Serbia will never agree to, nor accept the seizure of 15 percent of its territory.

Portuguese Parliamentarians View Kosovo Issue the Same Way as Serbian MPs

Interestingly enough, the RTS commentator reporting about Premier’s visit from Portugal noted that Kostunica had no need to try to “sway” Portuguese parliamentarians to the Serbian point of view — the proposed severing of Serbian Kosovo province, seizure of the territory and redrawing borders of the sovereign UN-member state are the issues about which Portuguese MPs speak exactly the same as members of the Serbian parliament.

Premier Kostunica will travel to Berlin on July 17, where he will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Three Things

Before his visit to Lisbon, Portugal, Vojislav Kostunica announced Serbian Government’s expectations from the EU he intends to present to his European colleagues.

In a written statement, Serbian Prime Minister stressed that it is not in Europe’s interest to violate the UN Charter and to try to create another Albanian state on the Serbian territory, adding that this would cause a long-term instability of the whole region, which certainly cannot be Europe’s authentic interest.

He emphasized that Serbia wants real negotiations on the future organization of the province to start, based on the legally binding UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

“We have experience with Martti Ahtisaari who, on his arrival to Belgrade at the very start of negotiating process, announced that he supports province’s independence. Such approach to negotiations leads nowhere and we now see that the same approach is behind the push for a resolution on independent Kosovo in the UN Security Council,” Kostunica pointed out.

He stressed that it is very important — and that is the third crucial thing these talks will involve — that the EU strongly backs Belgrade’s proposal to solve the issue of Kosovo province without redrawing the borders in the Balkans again.

In other words, this issue needs to be resolved the same way as the issue of national minorities in Europe is solved. Violating Serbian borders is against Serbia’s will and seizure of 15% of the country’s territory would represent legal violence and precedent that would result in very dangerous consequences, Kostunica warned.