Stealth Moves and Indecent Proposals
Churkin: Stealth Move Toward Independence, With Zero Chances of Success
“Russia condemns new Kosovo plan, urges to replace Ahtisaari,” is the title Russian RIA Novosti ran after the U.S./UK-sponsored draft resolution was rejected by the UN Security Council.
Moscow’s UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the text of the new draft resolution was a stealth move toward independence.
He said the resolution’s chances of adoption are “zero.”
“Almost the entire text and maybe particularly the annexes are permeated with the concept of the independence of Kosovo,” Churkin said.
New Unbiased Talks With New Unbiased Negotiator
Underscoring that the Kosovo problem is important from the point of view of international law and stability in the Balkans, in a statement to the Itar-Tass news agency, Vitaly Churkin said that the international community, instead of pushing for severing of the Serbian province, needs to create conditions for normal, new and substantial talks, with a new mediator.
Ambassador Churkin was quoted as saying after the consultations at the UN Security Council held behind closed doors that Ahtisaari’s plan had failed.
“New unbiased talks with a new unbiased negotiator are necessary,” said Churkin.
China Won’t Back Imposed Solutions
Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the UN Wang Guangy said it was obvious that more time is needed to reach an agreement through new negotiations.
Wang said that China could hardly back a solution that does not derive from an agreement of the two sides [Serbs and Albanian minority in Kosovo province].
Besides Russia and China, representatives of Indonesia and South Africa also have reservations towards a new draft resolution.
Unilateral Declarations to be Scrapped by UNMIK
According to Tanjug, late on Monday, Russian UN Ambassador cautioned both Pristina and the international community that frequent threats of unilateral declaration of independence had no basis in international law and applicable UN documents.
Under the UN Security Council Resolution 1244, in the case of unilateral declaration of independence, UNMIK must cancel such declaration, since it has no legal validity, Churkin said.
He stressed that Moscow completely ruled out such a possibility and noted that statements on the unilateral declaration of Kosovo’s independence only intensified the extremist mood in the Balkans, not just in Kosovo province but also in neighboring Macedonia.
Churkin’s warning came after frequent nervous statements of Kosovo Albanian separatists that they counted on the reserve option to unilaterally declare independence if the international community allowed “too long a delay” in the adoption of a solution for Kosovo they demand — independence.
Indecent Proposal
Serbia is willing to grant its Kosovo-Metohija province more autonomy but it will never trade the province’s independence for entry into the European Union, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Monday.
Kostunica said many EU officials had said they expected Serbia to grant independence to its southern province before it could become an EU member. “There are many officials, many politicians who spoke about that,” he said. Many diplomats had suggested Serbia trade Kosovo’s independence for EU entry, an offer he called indecent.
“The offer is like this: if you want Europe you can forget Kosovo, if you want Kosovo you can forget Europe,” Kostunica said. “Things cannot be like that. It’s an indecent offer.”
“Serbia will never allow Kosovo to break away from its territory as the province is a part of Serbia,” Kostunica said.