Ahtisaari: independence for Kosovo

from http://belgrade.org.yu/blog

—————————————————-

…we got Marti Ahtisaari in Belgrade today. Ahtisaari decided to come despite Koshtunica pretended he wasn’t there luckily, Boris Tadic was home so he opened the door and let the Finnish guy do his thing.

So, after his press conference in Media centre, everything is clear.

Apparently, the only things Kosovo will get are: justice department not controlled by outside forces**, their own police, an army free from external*** control and constraint, sovereign constitution, autonomous border control, Serbia’s property will become Kosovo property, they will choose their own coat of arms, national anthem, flag and will get the right to apply for membership in all international organizations without having to ask Serbia first.

Whew, and here i was, thinking they were going to get independence. Thanks to Sloba and Radicals some years ago and now Koshtunica, that will not happen. As Borat would say: Great success!

*oh, and please spread the news: we’re online again!

**as in: Serbia

***as in: Serbian

—————————————————–

from B92.net

—————————————————–

Tadić: Independence unacceptable

2 February 2007 | 14:51 -> 18:36 | Source: B92, FoNet, Beta

BELGRADE — “I told Ahtisaari that Serbia and I, as its president, will never accept Kosovo’s independence”, president Tadić said.

President Boris Tadić

“Imposed independence for Kosovo would contravene with the basic principles of international law and would represent a very dangerous political and legal precedent”, the Serbian president said in his address.
Boris Tadić added that the Kosovo status proposal submitted by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari does not specifically mention the word independence, but that it also leaves out the terms sovereignty and integrity, when it comes to Serbia’s jurisdiction over the province.
The president said that the proposal also dealt with a number of issues beside Kosovo’s status, such as decentralization, protection of the Serb Orthodox Church and its heritage in Kosovo, and international civilian and military presence there.
Tadić said he will ask all the parliamentary parties’ leaders to attend a meeting where he will present Ahtisaari’s blueprint.
Drašković: Ahtisaari overstepped mandate
Serbia’s outgoing foreign policy chief Vuk Drašković reacted to Ahtisaari’s proposal presented in Belgrade today by saying that the UN special envoy has “overstepped the mandate given to him by the UN secretary-general”.
“He turned the Kosovo status negotiations into a change of Serbia’s status, an internationally recognized state”.
The foreign ministry press release states that Serbia will point to this it its communication with the Contact Group, the UN Security Council, the EU and NATO.
Analyst: No mention of Kosovo army – good news
Military analyst Zoran Dragišić believes lack of any mention of Kosovo’s army or armed forces in Ahtisaari’s proposal is a positive development, as those represent “elements of statehood”.
“’Lightly armed forces’ are mentioned, but that refers to a kind of gendarmerie rather than an army, set to operate within the police force. That would not be unacceptable since even municipalities have police, which is not an element of statehood”, Dragišić says.
He added that Annex VIII of the proposal needed to be studied carefully, as, in his words, “the devil is often in the details”.
Dragišić thinks the existence of a Kosovo intelligence agency would be unacceptable for Serbia, since such agencies work as part of a country’s foreign policy, something a province cannot exercise.

———————————————–

read more:

International Reactions

Ahtisaari: UN Security Council to decide status

Halimi: Kosovo will reflect on south of Serbia

What do you think about this?