Q:
A:
Serbia should maintain continuity in foreign policy, retaining Kosovo-Metohija
Belgrade,
10 March 2008
Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic stated last night that Serbia should maintain continuity in its foreign policy and in retaining Kosovo-Metohija.
File photo of Vuk Jeremic
Author:
Tanjug
In a statement to RTV B92, Jeremic said it is unfortunate that in the upcoming period Serbia will have a technical government because that does not facilitate the diplomatic efforts to prevent Kosovo from entering international institutions and added that the continuation of the foreign policy is of crucial importance.
He stressed it is vital that Serbia maintains consistency in its foreign policy, and added that Serbian diplomacy in the past several weeks following the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo-Metohija has nevertheless yielded positive results.
Kosovo-Metohija as an independent state was recognised by far fewer countries than expected, said the minister and noted that if Serbia maintains the current continuity, the province’s independence will not be recognised by 100 countries, as announced by some Albanian lobbyists.
In the past several weeks we have been actively in touch with all regional groups of UN member countries. I talked with representatives of key countries of the Arab League, the Non-Aligned Movement, which has 115 members, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and many regional groups, recalled the minister.
He voiced belief that at the moment, Serbia’s arguments are pretty good and have been well received, and added that Serbia must stay on this course and be extremely agile at international forums, primarily at UN ones.
According to him, now that Kosovo’s interim parliament unilaterally declared independence, which a certain number of states recognised, Serbia’s main goal is to reduce this number of states to the lowest possible degree and prevent Kosovo from becoming a member of international institutions, such as the UN.
He also explained that Serbia will thus strive to prove that Kosovo-Metohija cannot unilaterally affirm its international legal status, i.e. its international sovereignty.
When all states gather at the UN general assembly in September and when it turns out that Kosovo is not recognised by a majority of UN members, and that it did not become member of international organisations and forums, we can then talk about a new stage in the struggle to preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state, said Jeremic.
The minister pointed out that a new stage would also imply a diplomatic approach towards countries that decided to recognise Kosovo-Metohija.
He stressed it is vital that Serbia maintains consistency in its foreign policy, and added that Serbian diplomacy in the past several weeks following the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo-Metohija has nevertheless yielded positive results.
Kosovo-Metohija as an independent state was recognised by far fewer countries than expected, said the minister and noted that if Serbia maintains the current continuity, the province’s independence will not be recognised by 100 countries, as announced by some Albanian lobbyists.
In the past several weeks we have been actively in touch with all regional groups of UN member countries. I talked with representatives of key countries of the Arab League, the Non-Aligned Movement, which has 115 members, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and many regional groups, recalled the minister.
He voiced belief that at the moment, Serbia’s arguments are pretty good and have been well received, and added that Serbia must stay on this course and be extremely agile at international forums, primarily at UN ones.
According to him, now that Kosovo’s interim parliament unilaterally declared independence, which a certain number of states recognised, Serbia’s main goal is to reduce this number of states to the lowest possible degree and prevent Kosovo from becoming a member of international institutions, such as the UN.
He also explained that Serbia will thus strive to prove that Kosovo-Metohija cannot unilaterally affirm its international legal status, i.e. its international sovereignty.
When all states gather at the UN general assembly in September and when it turns out that Kosovo is not recognised by a majority of UN members, and that it did not become member of international organisations and forums, we can then talk about a new stage in the struggle to preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state, said Jeremic.
The minister pointed out that a new stage would also imply a diplomatic approach towards countries that decided to recognise Kosovo-Metohija.
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