Unilateral decision on Kosovo status unacceptable - FM Lavrov
19/04/2007 13:29 BELGRADE, April 19 (RIA
Novosti) - Imposing a unilateral decision on the status of Serbia's
breakaway province of Kosovo is unacceptable and talks on the issue
should be continued, the Russian foreign minister said Thursday.
Sergei Lavrov is currently on an April 18-19 visit to Serbia,
Russia's traditional ally, to discuss a plan proposed by Martti
Ahtisaari, the UN envoy for Kosovo who is advocating internationally
supervised sovereignty for the province.
"We speak for the continuation of the negotiating process to find a
mutually acceptable decision," Sergei Lavrov said following his meeting
with Serbian President Boris Tadic.
Lavrov said Moscow completely backs Belgrade's position on the need to observe UN Security Council Resolution 1244.
"Any decision on the Kosovo issue should be acceptable for both Belgrade and Pristina," the minister said.
Adopted in 1999, the resolution determined to resolve the grave
humanitarian situation in Kosovo and to provide for the safe and free
return of all refugees and displaced persons to their homes.
The Serbian president said in turn that, "Any form of independence
for Kosovo is unacceptable for Serbia, and in this regard Serbia
opposes Ahtisaari's plan, which stipulates gradual independence for
Kosovo."
Ahtisaari proposed that the province be granted internationally
supervised sovereignty, but Serbian authorities have strongly opposed
the plan as threatening Serbia's national sovereignty and territorial
integrity.
Serbia is strongly opposed to independence for the province, which
is dominated by ethnic Albanians, but the United States and the
European Union have expressed support for its sovereignty. However,
only four out of 15 member-states at the UN Security Council voted for
Ahtisaari's plan during the first round of consultations April 3.
Veto-wielding Russia has opposed the internationally backed plan,
insisting that a decision on Kosovo should satisfy both Kosovar and
Serbian authorities and that it must be reached through negotiations.
Tadic also said that "Serbia believes granting independence to
Kosovo will set a most dangerous precedent and will have serious
consequences for the Balkans region and other conflict zones."
Moscow repeatedly expressed its concern that Kosovo's independence
could set a precedent for other breakaway republics, including in the
former Soviet republics of Georgia and Moldova.
Kosovo, which has a population of two million, has been a UN
protectorate since NATO's 78-day bombing campaign against the former
Yugoslavia ended a war between Serb forces and Albanian separatists in
1999.
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