Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica met today with a delegation of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, led by Sub-Committee on Central and Eastern Europe Chairman Markus Meckel, noting that the recent ethnically-motivated violence against Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo-Metohija came as a consequence of a lack of basic human rights in the province, especially the freedom of movement and the right to return.
Author:
FoNet
Kostunica called for protecting minority rights and providing additional institutional guarantees for Serbs and other non-Albanians, including territorial autonomy.
Noting that NATO officials have described the recent violence in the province as ethnic cleansing, the Prime Minister stressed that any change of borders in the region would be fatal to peace and stability in South Eastern Europe.
Meckel welcomed the Serbia-Montenegrin army reform and highlighted the importance of stable institutions in Serbia and Serbia-Montenegro. He also reiterated that cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague and the withdrawal of charges filed against NATO are the preconditions for Serbia-Montenegro's membership in the Partnership for Peace programme.