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Imposed solution for Kosovo-Metohija unacceptable for Russia

Belgrade/Moscow, 7 February 2007

Head of the Economic Team for Kosovo-Metohija and southern Serbia Nenad Popovic said today, following a meeting with Russian officials in Moscow, that Russia will not accept the proposal for the status of Kosovo-Metohja without Belgrade’s consent.

Nenad Popovic

Author: Fonet

According to a statement by the Economic Team, Popovic stressed that Russia opposes any decision which is not acceptable to both Belgrade and Pristina.

In talks with Deputy Chairman of the Russian Duma Konstantin Kosachev, Russian Minister of Economic Development and Trade German Gref and President of the Chuvash Republic Nikolai Fyodorov, it was said once again that an imposed solution is unacceptable for Russia, said Popovic.

He said that Russia’s position in resolving regional conflicts is a very principled one and assumes that universal principles based on international law are to be respected; the solution for the status of Kosovo-Metohija must be a result of agreement and should be acceptable for Serbia and ethnic-Albanians in Kosovo-Metohija.

Kosachev, also Head of the Russian Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, stated that Russia will not support any solution in the UN Security Council which is not a result of agreement between Belgrade and Pristina.

He said that the proposal by US Special Envoy Marti Ahtisaari is a plan which should be discussed by Belgrade and Pristina, and the result of these negotiations should be equally acceptable to both sides.

He said that it is unnecessary to present the proposal to the UN Security Council as long as agreement is not reached by the two sides in negotiations, and added that at this moment it would be best to wait for the formation of Serbian parliament and government so that the international community has legitimate collocutors.

Russian Minister of Economic Development and Trade German Gref gave a positive assessment of efforts made by the Economic Team in the designing of an adequate strategy for economic development because the economy is a necessary element of the long term development of Kosovo-Metohija and the entire region.

He added that cooperation between the Economic Team for Kosovo-Metohija and southern Serbia and the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade will be intensified in the months to come so that Serbia could use Russia's positive experiences in developing the economy in the areas in which ethnic conflicts took place.

President of the Republic of Chuvashia Nikolai Fyodorov also thinks that role of the economy in Kosovo-Metohija is very important and that the strategy of long-term economic development of the Serbian communities in Kosovo-Metohija and economic integration with central Serbia, envisaged by the strategy, are of crucial importance for further economic development.

Fyodorov said that the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin is the position of the entire Russian nation and that the respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity is the most important in international law. He underlined that every imposed solution is a source of new instabilities and does not lead to the resolution of a crisis, the statement adds.