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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Government recalls Serbian ambassador to Washington

Belgrade, 18 February 2008

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica stated tonight in the Serbian parliament that the fact the US has recognised the fictitious state of Kosovo cannot make that state a real one and that the Serbian government has immediately recalled the Serbian Ambassador to Washington.

Vojislav Kostunica addresses the parliament

The Serbian government’s official web site gives the Prime Minister’s speech in full.

"Honourable parliament members,

Prior to the beginning of this parliament session we heard US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice state that the US has recognised the fictitious state of Kosovo. Before the US, only Afghanistan has done so. This announcement by the US cannot turn a fictitious state into a real one, but it shows to the entire world the true violent face of the American policy of force. The Serbian government has recalled the Serbian Ambassador to Washington. This is the government’s first emergency measure which will apply to all countries that recognise the unilateral independence.

Yesterday, on February 17, 2008, the fictitious state of Kosovo was illegally declared on the territory of the sovereign Serbian state. Today begins our continuous fight to fully regain the entire province and restore Serbia’s constitutional order. That is our goal and Serbia will attain it. If we cannot fully achieve it today, we will do so tomorrow, because Serbia must remain free. Those who helped this fictitious state to come about forgot that Serbia has never and will never give up freedom.

Yesterday’s illegal act violated the UN Charter, Resolution 1244, the Helsinki Final Act and all norms of international law which international order is based on. The unilateral declaration of the fictitious Kosovo state directly jeopardises Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, its Constitution and constitutional order, as well as all legal and legitimate acts made by Serbia’s highest state institutions.

With its decision of February 14, 2008, the Serbian government in advance annulled all illegal acts of interim self-governing organs in Kosovo-Metohija and declared them null and void. This means that the unilateral declaration of this fictitious state on our soil has no legal consequences in the Republic of Serbia. Kosovo-Metohija remains an unalienable part of Serbia’s unified and indivisible constitutional and state legal order, and Serbs and all citizens of the southern Serbian province, who acknowledge the Republic of Serbia, are full and equal citizens of Serbia and have the right not to recognise illegal acts pertaining to the declaration of unilateral independence.

The Serbian government has also declared null and void all decisions of organs of the European Union to send a mission to Kosovo-Metohija since that directly threatens the sovereignty, territorial integrity and the constitutional order of the country. Being illegal, these decisions have no legal effect in the Republic of Serbia and do not envisage any obligations of the Republic of Serbia towards the EU, or towards anyone who implements these decisions.

We all know very well that this unilateral, illegal, violent and immoral proclamation of a fictitious state on Serbia’s territory was only possible with the use of force under the auspices of the US and NATO, as well as with the help of the unprincipled policy of leading EU states, which had neither moral nor political strength to defend the universal principles which the EU itself is based on. The proof of this is their intention to circumvent the UN at all costs while implementing such policy. The proof of this is the disunity amongst EU members towards the unilateral declaration, despite unbearable pressure by the US to breach international law in the harshest manner so that America could attain its military interests.

Yesterday we saw the final act of the brutal aggression towards and ruthless bombing of Serbia by NATO. The point of the policy of force can be brought down to the emergence of a creation on Serbia’s territory which is nothing but NATO’s military testing ground and its storage facility. Since the US do not trust their Albanian partners, they had to make a contract in the form of Annex 11 of Ahtisaari’s plan and sign that Ahtisaari’s plan is the oldest document on which this fictitious state is based.

Abiding by the Constitution and all Serbian parliament resolutions, particularly the Resolution on the protection of sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order of the Republic of Serbia, adopted by Serbian parliament on December 26, 2007, the Serbian government is conducting a unified state policy to retain Kosovo-Metohija as an inseparable part of Serbia. In the struggle to preserve the state sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order, the Serbian government has managed to ensure the international support of all countries committed to the preservation of the international legal order. You know that as soon as the illegal and unilateral independence was declared, Serbia demanded that the UN Security Council, the OSCE and the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers summon emergency sessions. If Serbia was wrong, would it ask all relevant international institutions and bodies to speak their minds on whether international law is being ruthlessly breached in Serbia’s case.

Though force will tread upon law and justice, Serbia will never acknowledge the fictitious state of Kosovo on its territory, but will keep asserting that the province of Kosovo-Metohija is a constituent and inseparable part of our country. When the independence of this creation was illegally and unilaterally declared, Serbia did not lose Kosovo-Metohija, but opened a new page in the history of the country. Since that moment, the key task and the main aim of our future state policy has been defined – to restore Kosovo-Metohija in the country’s constitutional order in accordance with all valid norms of international law, and to protect our people and every citizen in Kosovo-Metohija who respect Serbia’s constitutional order. The Serbian government’s decision to annul this act of violence is a historic moment from which Serbia’s state and national policy for Kosovo-Metohija after February 17 begins. From now on, the aim of our policy must be a free, safe and normal life for each of our citizens living in the Serbian southern province. All of Serbia’s potentials – economic, cultural, political, institutional and all others – must be employed with the aim to protect our fellow countrymen, citizens and the economic development of the regions they live in, secure jobs for them, as well as education and health and social care, preserve the spiritual and cultural heritage, attain freedom and full re-establishment of the province into Serbia’s constitutional and legal order.

The creators of the policy of violence carried out on Serbia are counting on the fact that Serbia will soon accept the evil it is made to suffer and that its rage will only last a day. We must be wise and enduring and most of all raise Serbia above all force and violence. Day after day we must show dignity and strength that will lead us to our goal. Violence and force we leave to those who have disgraced themselves before the entire world by resorting to them. Serbia must preserve stability in order to retain and defend Kosovo. I would like to use this opportunity to call upon all citizens and ask them to remain calm, to protest peacefully and not to demolish their towns and their country.

Honourable parliament members,

The Serbian government has led a consistent and unified state policy to protect the interests, sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order in accordance with the guidelines determined by Serbian parliament. Respecting all Serbian parliamentary acts, particularly the Resolution on the protection of sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order of the Republic of Serbia, adopted on December 26, 2007, the government met on February 14, 2008, and made the Decision to annul all illegal acts of interim self-governing organs in Kosovo-Metohija pertaining to the unilateral declaration of independence.

Bearing in mind that yesterday the fictitious state of Kosovo was illegally and unilaterally declared and that we can expect this act of violence to be acknowledged by some states, which will be a gross violation of international law, and most of all the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the Serbian Constitution, the government has demanded that Serbian parliament summons an emergency session to speak out about the government decision. I beseech you to confirm the government’s decision in the spirit of unified state and national policy and in accordance with the need to preserve the political stability of the country.”