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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Essential autonomy is best for Kosovo-Metohija

Vienna, 24 July 2006

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said today that the best possible solution for Kosovo-Metohija’s status is essential autonomy as proposed by Belgrade in Vienna negotiations today.

Vojislav Kostunica (1st left), Boris Tadic (2nd left) and Vuk Draskovic at today's press conference

Author: Reuters

In a joint press conference of Serbian delegation members in Vienna, Kostunica said that the Serbian side presented arguments backing the essential autonomy of the province whereas the Albanian side has not given any valid argument to support the province’s independence, apart from their own wish for Kosovo-Metohija to be independent.

According to Kostunica, independence would mean violation of a series of valid rules, such as international law, UN Charter, Helsinki Charter and UN Security Council’s Resolution 1244.

The solution for Kosovo-Metohija should be sought according to European standards and values that are simple, said Kostunica and stressed that problems are solved through different degrees of autonomy, and not by breaking up states.

He stressed that the breaking up of states is not in line with European standards and noted that the main principle of the Contact Group is that the solution must be found through an agreement.

If all these principles are violated, stability of the region is then put into question and a dangerous precedent is thus created for other parts of Europe and the world, stressed the Serbian Prime Minister.

Serbian President Boris Tadic said that the talks today were good, but noted that two essentially different stands of Kosovo-Metohija’s future were presented.

Tadic said that he did not expect the differences to be of smaller scope, but noted that it is good that Belgrade’s position was made clear, which is a basic presumption for us to start negotiations leading to a compromise.

We are ready to participate in further negotiations in risk reduction, stressed the Serbian President and recalled that the position of Serbian negotiators is based on basic international principles, international law and a vision of the future of the Balkans that should contribute to stability and not disintegration.

Tadic also said that the Serbian side will participate in August activities concerning decentralisation and protection of churches and monasteries.

The Serbian President expressed expectation that essential progress will be made concerning decentralisation, protection of churches and human lives, especially lives of Serbs and members of other non-Albanian communities.

Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Draskovic expressed satisfaction with the way Belgrade presented its stands in Vienna today and highlighted that the arguments presented by Serbian authorities concerning the future of Kosovo-Metohija cannot be disputed as they are European arguments based on compromise.

UN special envoy for Kosovo-Metohija talks Martti Ahtisaari said after the talks that the talks on the future status of Kosovo-Metohija today did not finish successfully as the stands of Belgrade and Pristina are diametrically opposed.