SERBIA - KOSOVO
Kostunica: "Kosovo will never be a UN member state"
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
By AFP
Kosovo will never be an independent state, no matter of what kind of pressure Serbia is exposed to, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said Sunday ahead of talks on the UN-administered province.
"Kosovo will never be independent state, no matter pressures, conditionings and threats Serbia is exposed to," said Kostunica, Beta news agency reported.
"Kosovo could be an independent state only if Serbia recognised it or if the (United Nations') Security Council broke the UN Charter," Kostunica said at his Democratic Party of Serbia meeting.
"The entire world is well aware that Serbia will not recognise the independence of Kosovo, nor will the Security Council violate the UN Charter," said the nationalist prime minister.
"Therefore Kosovo will not be an independent state and will never be a UN member state," he added.
Kostunica was speaking just hours ahead of a new round of internationally-mediated direct talks between delegations of Belgrade and Pristina on the future status of the UN-run Serbian province.
Kosovo's 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority wants to break away from Serbia. Belgrade has offered them autonomy but fiercely opposes independence.
The province has been run by a UN mission since mid-1999 when a NATO bombing campaign drove out Serbian armed forces, ending their brutal crackdown against independence-minded ethnic Albanians.
"Kosovo will never be independent state, no matter pressures, conditionings and threats Serbia is exposed to," said Kostunica, Beta news agency reported.
"Kosovo could be an independent state only if Serbia recognised it or if the (United Nations') Security Council broke the UN Charter," Kostunica said at his Democratic Party of Serbia meeting.
"The entire world is well aware that Serbia will not recognise the independence of Kosovo, nor will the Security Council violate the UN Charter," said the nationalist prime minister.
"Therefore Kosovo will not be an independent state and will never be a UN member state," he added.
Kostunica was speaking just hours ahead of a new round of internationally-mediated direct talks between delegations of Belgrade and Pristina on the future status of the UN-run Serbian province.
Kosovo's 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority wants to break away from Serbia. Belgrade has offered them autonomy but fiercely opposes independence.
The province has been run by a UN mission since mid-1999 when a NATO bombing campaign drove out Serbian armed forces, ending their brutal crackdown against independence-minded ethnic Albanians.
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