Serbia's foreign minister said Sunday that Belgrade should
insist on its right to keep Kosovo, despite a UN plan outlining
supervised statehood for the province.
Vuk Draskovic said in an interview on B92 Television that Serbia
should lodge complaints with the United Nations to demand changes
to the proposal drafted by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari.
Ahtisaari on Friday unveiled his plan for the future status of
Kosovo, envisaging internationally monitored self-rule with the
right to a constitution, national symbols such as a flag and
membership in international organizations.
Serbian leaders rejected the idea, saying it paves the way for
the independence of the southern province which is Serbia's
historic heartland.
President Boris Tadic, who rejected the plan, has called a
meeting of top political leaders for today to plot a strategy for
Kosovo and determine Serbia's future moves in the wake of the
Ahtisaari plan.
The prospects of Kosovo gaining independence has fueled
nationalism in the country, although Serbia has had no authority
over the region since a crackdown against the ethnic Albanian
separatists in the late 1990s triggered NATO air strikes, turning
Kosovo into a UN protectorate.
Draskovic said Serbia should push for changes in the UN draft to
say that "implementation of this plan cannot change the existing
borders in the Balkans."
Serbia has suggested Kosovo be granted full autonomy from
Belgrade's rule, but not internationally recognized independence.
But ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the province's 2
million population, say they will agree to nothing less than full
sovereignty.
(China Daily via Agencies February 5, 2007)
