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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Setting up EU mission in Kosovo will breach international law

Belgrade, 12 January 2008

Serbian Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Slobodan Samardzic stated today that Serbia must decisively reject the announced EU mission because if it is set up without a previous agreement on the province’s future status and an appropriate UN Security Council resolution, it will be a pure violation of international law and a violence of its own kind.

In an interview for today’s edition of the Vecernje Novosti daily, Samardzic stressed that sending an EU mission is part of Ahtisaari’s plan for monitored independence of Kosovo-Metohija, which Serbia rejected and which did not even pass the Security Council.

He stressed it is incomprehensible that the EU should behave in such a way towards international law and its own founding documents – the EU Contract and the founding treaties of the union – by which it is strictly bound to respect international law.

The Serbian government’s official web site gives parts of the interview.

Should Serbia unconditionally sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA)?

This is all about the stance towards Serbia, its potential contractual partner. If the EU is ready to accept the independence of Kosovo-Metohija, even though it means breaching international law, not to mention Serbia’s vital interests, how can such a complex contractual relation between the EU and Serbia, which the agreement envisages, ever come to life? This document has been discussed and initialled with the explicit proposition of respect for the founding law and consequently, this should be the principled rule for the entire internationally recognised territory of Serbia.

The Agreement says it will not be implemented in Kosovo-Metohija:

Exemption from Article 135 of the SAA – which reads that it will not be implemented in the province – is just a temporal exemption conditioned by the presence of UN military and civil mission in line with Resolution 1244. This is similar to the accession agreement between the EU and Cyprus, which is not valid for northern Cyprus while it is under illegal administration of Turks. Formally, as an international contract, it refers to the whole of Cyprus as an internationally recognised state. When it comes to Serbia, with the abovementioned conclusions the EU is questioning this contractual proposition. This is the major stumbling block at the moment.

What will Serbia first do if Kosovo-Metohija unilaterally declares independence?

It will immediately begin implementing the provisions stated in the latest Serbian parliament Resolution and the action plan for protecting state interests.

How much is the EU unanimous in its desire to send a mission and implement Ahtisaari’s rejected plan?

Uniformity of mind does not actually exist in the EU. It’s just political pragmatism at work on the part of influential member countries which blindly follow the US policy in this matter. In fact, the number of EU members who are categorically against Kosovo independence is much greater than those who are categorically in favour of that. And in between these two groups is the "dead sea", comprising the largest number of states who succumb to the laws of inertia and follow the stronger and more influential countries.