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No part of Ahtisaari’s plan acceptable for Serbian government
Belgrade/London,
5 February 2007
Advisor to the Serbian Prime Minister for foreign policy Vladeta Jankovic said that none of the parts of UN Special Envoy Marti Ahtisaari’s proposal are acceptable for the Serbian government for the simple reason that it is based on Kosovo-Metohija’s independence.
Vladeta Jankovic
Author:
Tanjug
Jankovic said in a statement for British radio BBC that this would mean that Serbia would be deprived of 15% of its territory and pointed out that the initial document contains all attributes and prerogatives of an independent state, except for the term independence.
Under the Ahtisaari plan, Kosovo-Metohija would have its own constitution, all state insignia, the right to membership of international organisations, including the UN, as well as a 3,000-strong armed force, Jankovic pointed out and concluded that all this makes it an independent state whatever you call it.
At the same time, he pointed out that there will be attempts to ensure that such a solution is accepted in the UN, but if those attempts fail, which is most likely to happen, the only way out for independence advocates would be a unilateral declaration in Pristina.
In its efforts to block the UN plan, the Serbian government will continue to rely on international law and basic documents that enable the preservation of international order, and that means inviolability of the existing borders and the respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty of internationally recognised states, Jankovic said.
Serbia won't take any military action, but in the case of unilateral recognition of an independent Kosovo, the Serbian government will have to reconsider its relations with countries that do so. That would not include termination of diplomatic relations because that would lead to a self-imposed isolation, and Serbia should by no means let that happen.
Jankovic confirmed that Belgrade counts on Russia's opposition to this plan before the UN Security Council and of all other countries that are ready to look into the future because independence of Kosovo-Metohija would mean that the principle of self-determination of an ethnic group has been accepted and placed above the principle of inviolability of borders of internationally recognised states.
Asked whether Serbia's opposition to UN proposals could harm its efforts to join the European Union, Jankovic said that it is unacceptable that Serbia's membership in the EU be a compensation for the loss of the part of its territory.
Under the Ahtisaari plan, Kosovo-Metohija would have its own constitution, all state insignia, the right to membership of international organisations, including the UN, as well as a 3,000-strong armed force, Jankovic pointed out and concluded that all this makes it an independent state whatever you call it.
At the same time, he pointed out that there will be attempts to ensure that such a solution is accepted in the UN, but if those attempts fail, which is most likely to happen, the only way out for independence advocates would be a unilateral declaration in Pristina.
In its efforts to block the UN plan, the Serbian government will continue to rely on international law and basic documents that enable the preservation of international order, and that means inviolability of the existing borders and the respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty of internationally recognised states, Jankovic said.
Serbia won't take any military action, but in the case of unilateral recognition of an independent Kosovo, the Serbian government will have to reconsider its relations with countries that do so. That would not include termination of diplomatic relations because that would lead to a self-imposed isolation, and Serbia should by no means let that happen.
Jankovic confirmed that Belgrade counts on Russia's opposition to this plan before the UN Security Council and of all other countries that are ready to look into the future because independence of Kosovo-Metohija would mean that the principle of self-determination of an ethnic group has been accepted and placed above the principle of inviolability of borders of internationally recognised states.
Asked whether Serbia's opposition to UN proposals could harm its efforts to join the European Union, Jankovic said that it is unacceptable that Serbia's membership in the EU be a compensation for the loss of the part of its territory.
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