Javno.hr, Croatia
Feb 17 2008
Russia Seeks Kosovo Action;West Stresses Stability
The European Union´s foreign policy chief also called for stability
in Kosovo and the whole Balkan region.
Russia backed ally Serbia on Sunday in condemning Kosovo’s
declaration of independence and called for the United Nations to
annul the move Serbia’s prime minister said was accomplished to
further U.S. military goals.
The immediate U.S. response to Kosovo’s long-anticipated decision to
split from Serbia was muted by comparison. The State Department said
it noted the declaration and was "reviewing the issue and discussing
the matter with its European partners".
It called on all parties to "exercise the utmost restraint and to
refrain from any provocative act".
The European Union’s foreign policy chief also called for stability
in Kosovo and the whole Balkan region. "I urge everybody to act
calmly and in a responsible way," Javier Solana said in a statement.
But despite the appeals for calm, the stage was set for tense
diplomatic sessions over the latest turn in the long and bloody
break-up of Yugoslavia, and possible new crises as breakaway regions
far from the Balkans said Kosovo’s move strengthened their own
independence bids.
"The situation with Kosovo is a precedent," Russia’s Interfax news
agency quoted Abkhazia’s President Sergei Bagapsh, whose country
seeks independence from Georgia, as saying.
"All the talk about the Kosovo situation being unique is an example
of a policy of double standards," he added.
The West supports the demand of Kosovo’s 2 million ethnic Albanians
for their own state, nine years after NATO went to war to save them
from Serbian forces. The United States and most EU members are
expected to quickly recognise Kosovo.
Russia says a unilateral independence declaration by Kosovo is
illegal and the council should oppose it and demand more talks
between the ethnic Albanians and Belgrade.
"IMMEDIATE ACTION"
Kosovo’s vote in favour of independence was expected.
Prime Minister Hashim Thaci read out a text in parliament made by
leaders of Kosovo’s 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority.
The parliament, which includes former guerrillas who fought for
independence in a 1998-99 war, approved the declaration 109-0. Eleven
minority deputies, including Serbs, were absent.
Minutes after the vote in Pristina, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav
Kostunica branded the southern region "a false state".
He said in an address from Belgrade that Kosovo was propped up
unlawfully by the United States which was "ready to violate the
international order for its own military interests".
Russia’s response was almost as swift. It called for immediate U.N.
Security Council consultations on Sunday.
"We expect the U.N. mission and NATO-led forces in Kosovo to take
immediate action to carry out their mandate … including the
annulling of the decisions of Pristina’s self-governing organs and
the taking of tough administrative measures against them," a
statement from Russia’s Foreign Ministry said.
"The decisions by the Kosovo leadership create the risk of an
escalation of tension and inter-ethnic violence in the province and
of new conflict in the Balkans," it said.
Kosovo’s break with Serbia was watched closely by regions far from
the Balkans seeking independence.
Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
Azerbaijan’s rebel Nagorno-Karabakh region and Transdniestria, which
split from Moldova, all declared independence in the 1990s but have
not received international recognition.
After Kosovo’s declaration, South Ossetia’s leader, Abkhazia’s
president, Nagorno-Karabakh’s foreign minister all said the move
strengthened their positions.
The separatist parliament in the Trandniestria region was expected to
issue a statement on Monday on Kosovo’s declaration.
In Belgrade, meanwhile, angry Serbs stoned the U.S. embassy. In the
Kosovo Serb stronghold of Mitrovica, three hand grenades were thrown
at U.N. and EU buildings, causing minor damage.
NATO said it would continue to provide security in Kosovo and deal
firmly with any violence.
"All parties should recognize that KFOR will continue to fulfil its
responsibility for a safe and secure environment throughout the
territory of Kosovo … unless the (U.N.) Security Council decides
otherwise," NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said in a
statement.
The EU will send a supervisory mission to take over from the current
U.N. authorities. NATO ambassadors were due to meet on Monday to
discuss Kosovo, as are EU foreign ministers.
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
