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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

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Serbia will not accept imposed solution to Kosovo

Belgrade/Rome, 5 July 2006

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica met today in Rome with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and said that Serbia will not accept any imposed solution to Kosovo.

Vojislav Kostunica, left, and Romano Prodi

Author: Fonet/AP

In a statement to the press following the meeting, Kostunica said he had told Prime Minister Prodi that Serbia will not allow the creation of another state in its territory, or an abduction of any portion of it.

Speaking about the solution for the future status of Kosovo-Metohija, he stressed that Serbia "will reject any imposed solution in the form of limited, prolonged or any other sovereignty or independence of Kosovo, and that in that case it will consider the province its own territory".

Kostunica said that he had briefed Prodi on the basic principles of the Serbian government's platform regarding the Kosovo issue, which has already been sent to all Contact Group member countries and contains three key principles.

The first principle refers to the international law and the respect of territorial integrity and sovereignty of existing states, especially democratic ones – and Kostunica pointed out that Serbia is one of those countries.

The second principle refers to the fact that the solution must be in line with EU standards, which means that Belgrade is offering the highest level of autonomy to Kosovo within Serbia and expects autonomy for Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija, he said. The third principle demands that the solution to Kosovo status must be a compromise one, he added.

Kostunica stressed that there are no imposed solution and imposed compromise, recalling that the state of the human rights of Serbs and other non-ethnic Albanians in Kosovo is utterly unsatisfactory.

He added that the positions of Serbia and Italy are somewhat at variance and that there are differences.

"However, I have the impression that, just like today in Rome, we are gradually managing to convince our European collocutors of the complexity of Kosovo issue and the danger of one-sided solutions", said the Serbian Prime Minister.

He said that at his meeting with Prodi they agreed it is necessary that Serbia resume the negotiations on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU as soon as possible.

They also agreed that with the realisation of the action plan and better cooperation between Belgrade, Brussels and the Hague Tribunal, it will be possible to contribute efficiently to a prompt continuation of talks for the conclusion of the SAA.

According to Kostunica, Prodi said that Italy is especially interested in the continuation of negotiations between Serbia and the EU because Rome is aware of the importance of Serbia’s position in the Balkans and, as its neighbour, Italy is naturally concerned about it.

Kostunica added that he agreed with Prodi that Italy and Serbia have improved bilateral relations most notably regarding the economic cooperation, the presence of Italian banks in Serbia and the cultural domain.

Vojislav Kostunica and Massimo D'Alema

Author: Tanjug/EPA

Following a meeting with Italian interior and foreign affairs ministers Giuliano Amato and Massimo D'Alema, Kostunica said he had told his collocutors of the importance to continue the talks on the SAA and also that it was an unwise decision to call them off.

Kostunica said he is encouraged by Amato's viewpoint that the talks should resume and that this is also in Italy's interest.

Kostunica said they also discussed Kosovo-Metohija and agreed that any solution not representing a compromise for Serbia, the key Western Balkan country, is unacceptable.

The Serbian Prime Minister concluded that the meeting with Amato and D'Alema was "partner-like and co-operational".

The Serbian government's delegation to Rome also included head of the Serbian government's Coordinating Centre for Kosovo-Metohija Sanda Raskovic-Ivic and Foreign Policy Advisor to the Serbian Prime Minister Vladeta Jankovic.