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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Talks on Kosovo's future status to begin in July

Belgrade, 19 June 2006

Head of the Coordinating Centre for Kosovo-Metohija Sanda Raskovic-Ivic said yesterday that according to announcements of the UN Special Envoy for Kosovo-Metohija Marti Ahtisaari, talks on the province's future status will begin in Vienna in July.

Raskovic-Ivic told Tanjug news agency that at the upcoming session of the UN Security Council that will be held on June 20 in New York and dedicated to the situation in Kosovo-Metohija, she will warn of the possibility of a "domino effect" and destabilisation of the entire Balkans and other parts of Europe if Kosovo gets independence.

She said that the Security Council must not allow trade in human rights and someone else's territories and highlighted that in New York she will criticise the human rights situation, the issue of return and safety in Kosovo, but that she will also point to Belgrade's platform for the resolution of Kosovo's status and call for the respect of Resolution 1244, which is a guarantor of Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Raskovic-Ivic recalled that in the platform for resolution of Kosovo's status, Belgrade advocates that along with negotiations on the province's future status, "talks at four tables" should also be conducted.

The first table would deal with constitutional questions, the second with security issues, the third would look at economic and property issues, and the fourth table would focus on decentralisation.

The Head of the Coordinating Centre said that the Serbian side must show "a certain flexibility and a sense for compromise," noting that a compromise means to try to meet the other party halfway and that the Serbian side must be very firm about that. We will be realistic, we will know where to make a compromise, but also what cannot be accepted in any way, she said.

Raskovic-Ivic said that the positions of the ethnic Albanian and Serbian sides are most similar concerning the protection of churches and cultural heritage.

"We are yet to make protection zones around monasteries, to denote their size and location, which is being done by experts on the ground. It has already been agreed that these zones will be guarded by Kfor," Raskovic-Ivic said and added that the Serbian Orthodox Church agreed with the protection zones projects made by the Coordinating Centre.

She stressed that the Serbian side is strongly advocating the position that the Office for the Protection of Monuments should be tasked with renovating, building and maintaining monasteries. The Office would cooperate with municipalities and also "have an institution of provincial type on the Serbian side".

Raskovic-Ivic reiterated that what Belgrade is offering Pristina is a level of autonomy that no one in Europe has. To prove how wide the autonomy would be, she said that the Serbian platform will offer Pristina to govern its finances, have the right of regional association, as well as the right to take part in the social and political life in Belgrade, which depends on the ethnic Albanian side.

According to Raskovic-Ivic, it is important that this kind of essential autonomy is contractual in kind and termed for a 20-year period, during which time actual topics will become EU integration, a change in perception and a general maturing of the society.

The independence that the ethnic Albanian side is advocating is a 19th-century sovereignty concept non-existent in contemporary Europe, which makes it seem ridiculous since all countries got rid of it when they entered the EU, concluded Raskovic-Ivic.