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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Standards in Kosovo-Metohija still far from full implementation

Belgrade, 4 October 2005

Head of the Coordinating Centre for Kosovo-Metohija Sanda Raskovic-Ivic said today she expects that the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for assessment of the implementation of standards in Kosovo Kai Eide will find that certain important issues have not been fulfilled and that Serbia will be more or less satisfied with his report.

Sanda Raskovic-Ivic at today's press conference

Author: Fonet

Speaking at a press conference, Raskovic-Ivic recalled that during their last meeting, Eide said that standards are far from their full implementation, pointing out that the report will probably be critical of both the Serbian and Albanian sides.

Raskovic-Ivic said it is necessary to be politically realistic and prepare for the talks on the status of Kosovo-Metohija despite his assessment of the implementation of standards, adding that Belgrade is ready for the talks, but will not accept that standards remain unimplemented.

The Head of the Coordinating Centre pointed out the necessity of simultaneously working on decentralisation and conducting talks on the status of Kosovo-Metohija, because decentralisation strengthens the Serbian community and brings peace and a feeling of security in the province.

Raskovic-Ivic stressed that the formula “More than autonomy, less than independence” has not been developed in detail, and that its development will take place during the process of negotiations about the province’s status, adding that the formula is the result of a compromise.

She said there are two topics that the Serbian side will neither agree to discuss nor accept, these two being the division of Kosovo and its independence, conditional or unconditional.

According to Raskovic-Ivic, Serbia will insist on three points in the talks - the sanctity of its borders, guaranteed by UN Security Council Resolution 1244, the equal status of the negotiating parties, which assumes that they both meet face to face and discuss options, as well as the principle of responsibility which assumes that “shuttle diplomacy” will be avoided, because the question of the status of Kosovo-Metohija is far too important to be left to “shuttle diplomacy”.

Raskovic-Ivic said that the negotiating team will include representatives of authorities in Belgrade and relevant Serb representatives from Kosovo-Metohija.