Serbia, Russia Determined to Persevere
Serbian Parliament to Adopt National Resolution for Preservation of Kosovo Province
A special session of the Serbian Parliament was opened at 4 pm on Tuesday, where the deputies debate on Serbian draft resolution on Kosovo-Metohija and the report issued by the state negotiating team regarding the negotiations on Kosovo province.
The session is attended by Serbian President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, as well as by most of the members of the Serbian government.
The Serbian government adopted on Monday the draft resolution and the report of the negotiating team, and submitted the documents to the parliament for consideration. The draft resolution points to the fact that Kosovo and Metohija is an “inseparable part of the state of Serbia, all on the basis of the valid and obliging constitutional and international legal documents.”
The document also points to Serbia’s willingness to begin a new stage of negotiations so that the most favourable solution be found for Kosovo-Metohija, bearing in mind the country’s basic state interest and the legitimate interests of the ethnic Albanian minority in the province.
The report on the negotiations that were held in Vinenna till March this year and the draft resolution will be presented to the MPs by Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic.
Kostunica: UN SC Resolution 1244 the Exclusive Guide for New Negotiations
Addressing Serbian National Assembly Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said that new negotiations on the future organization of Kosovo-Metohija province can exclusively be led under the mandate of the Security Council, as well as that the only possible basis for the talks was UN SC Resolution 1244.
“There are three crucial elements of this Resolution — first, that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia are explicitly confirmed, second that the solution lies in basic autonomy for the province, and third, which is of particular importance, that the Resolution does not mention Kosovo-Metohija’s independence anywhere,” Kostunica reminded Serbian parliament.
He said that the recent withdrawal of the American-EU resolution from the Security Council represented a significant victory for Serbia, which concluded the first stage in defending Kosovo-Metohija.
Serbia expects the Contact Group to be active, but also that the entire negotiation process be under the UN Security Council mandate, Kostunica said, adding that in that process, the issue should be defined in detail.
“Our Generation Cannot and Shall Not Give Kosovo Away”
“And this means that there is no such thing as Kosovo-Metohija issue, since what we are speaking of is an integral and inseparable part of Serbia’s territory. What we have here is something else — an open issue of the ethnic Albanian minority in the province, and it is essential that, by way of constructive dialogue, a right solution be found to this issue,” the Prime Minister said.
According to him, it is time for true negotiations, and if there is good will, it is really possible to reach such a solution that will meet the basic interests of both the ethnic Albanian minority and the state of Serbia.
“Today, Serbia confirms in its National Assembly that Kosovo and Metohija is embedded into the deepest foundations of the Serbian state and that Kosovo is a synonym of our national being, culture, religion, of our history and our future,” the Serbian Premier said.
“Our generation cannot and shall not give Kosovo, and if we do not give it, we can be certain that Kosovo-Metohija will remain in Serbia forever,” Kostunica concluded, calling upon the deputies to back the proposed resolution which provides guidelines for Serbia’s future policy in the process of resolving the future organization of the southern Serbian province.
Putin: Resolution 1244 the Only Framework for Negotiations
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the work on defining Kosovo-Metohija’s status had been transferred onto the Contact Group, but that UN Security Council Resolution 1244 continued to be valid.
The work has been transferred onto the Contact Group, but Resolution 1244 is valid, Putin said in consultations with his ministers.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov added that the Resolution continued to be valid as a whole and that a decision by the UN Security Council was required for its annulment.
Lavrov also said that the Kosovo issue would be resolved in the Contact Group, and not on the basis of the plan issued by Martti Ahtisaari, but rather with the respect of the positions of Belgrade and Pristina, Itar-Tass reported.
“We consider that the foundation of negotiations cannot be based on the Ahtisaari plan as it did not get U.N. Security Council support,” Interfax news agency quoted Lavrov.
Russian Foreign Ministry: No Time Limitations, Talks Based on Res.1244
Acting in keeping with Resolution 1244, the Contact Group should continue the efforts aimed at providing conditions for a dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and for bringing the positions in the negotiation process on Kosovo-Metohija’s future closer to each other, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin told Tanjug on Tuesday.
Assuming that the Contact Group should continue efforts in providing conditions for a dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and bringing the positions in the Kosovo negotiation process closer to each other, we are convinced that the Contact Group should act in keeping the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 which has preserved its legal authority, Kamynin said.
Commenting on the withdrawal of the American-EU draft resolution from voting at the UN Security Council, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that no time limits should be imposed on the new rounds of negotiations and that all required bases, UN Security Council Resolution 1244 for one, had been provided for the talks.