Parliament: Kosovo consultations underway

Parliament: Kosovo consultations underway

The draft resolution defining Serbia’s position and strategy over Kosovo’s future is likely to make it to the agenda of the July 24 session dedicated solely to this issue.

“Every solution to Kosovo-Metohija’s status that violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia would be declared null and void and regarded as detrimental to the existence of the Republic of Serbia,” the draft reads.

According to B92’s sources, the draft has not yet been made final and is susceptible to changes stemming from the consultations.

The proposed document also says that any solution jeopardizing Serbia’s interests would serve as grounds for the state bodies to “undertake appropriate action in line with the international law.”

“The Serbian government and other state institutions are obliged to timely and energetically respond to any hint or an act committed on the part of an international actor aiming at unilateral moves in regards to violations of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia,” the draft says.

In addition, the proposed resolution states that the mentioned provision first and foremost pertained to threats and possible acts of unilateral recognition of Kosovo’s statehood.

According to the draft, “the Serbian Parliament believes it is absolutely unnecessary to adopt a new UN Security Council resolution in order to initiate a new round of Kosovo status talks,” adding that the negotiations should be held within the framework of UN resolution 1244.

“A new UN resolution must follow only after the negotiations aimed at reaching a compromise have been completed.”

The Serbian Parliament would, according to the document, call for genuine talks between representatives of Serbia and interim institutions in Kosovo that would be open in terms of their outcome and duration, all the while respecting fundamental norms and principles of the international law.

The draft also says that the Parliament would call on all UN member states to respect the sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia in accordance with the international law, the UN Charter and UN resolution 1244.

Radicals: Draft written by “a moderate radical”

Radicals’ deputy chief Tomislav Nikolić said that the draft of the new Parliament’s resolution had to be more precise regarding Serbia’s moves in case certain countries decide to acknowledge a unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo.

Following a meeting with Samardžić, he said that the document did not mention Serbia would cut off diplomatic ties with these states.

Nikolić said he “skimmed through the document,” stressing it was “not much different” to what the Radicals had proposed earlier.

Nikolić called the draft “interesting”, remarking that it seemed as if it had been written by “a moderate Radical.”

LDP: Draft ignores reality

LDP leader Čedomir Jovanović said that the government-sponsored draft resolution on Kosovo “ignored reality” since it prolonged the process of the status settlement for the province.

“The draft does not offer any alternatives and we will not be able to adjust our political standing with such a resolution in place,” he said.

Jovanović added that his party could not back the proposed document and that he would try to adjust its provisions during a meeting with Samardžić.

“I think that Serbia now needs two initiatives. The first one is a clear-cut decision in the Parliament which would demonstrate readiness to accept the UN Security Council’s decisions,” he said.

“We also need to change this politically nonsensical position of insisting that Kosovo’s status settlement and Serbia’s European integration are two separate processes,” Jovanović concluded.