Koštunica: Serbia, Russia achieve success

Koštunica: Serbia, Russia achieve success

“The withdrawal of the new draft resolution which should have paved the way to independence for Kosovo-Metohija has extraordinary importance for Serbia and is a triumph of law over the attempt to seize Serbia’s territory.”

He added that Serbia was ready for new round negotiations and that the Serbian government strongly insisted that new negotiations should be conducted “under the mandate of the Security Council.”

“The Security Council is the only body that has the mandate to deal with the regulation of the Serbian province’s status, in accordance with the Resolution 1244.”

“Serbia’s diplomacy scores major victory”

Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardžić said that preventing the adoption of the latest draft resolution on Kosovo was a big triumph for Serbian and Russian diplomacy, the government's web site reported.

According to him, the withdrawal of the resolution means that the Ahtisaari plan “has finally been shelved.”

"Even though consultations have been moved to the Contact Group, it does not mean that the settlement process has been in effect removed from the UN.,"  Samardžić argued.

“The Contact Group will continue to work under UN auspices, and status will be established by the Security Council. The Contact Group has been entrusted with the task to set the terms and framework for the new round of the Kosovo dialogue, and engage both parties to participate,” he explained.

“I believe that with the Ahtisaari plan out of the way, the new negotiations will be arranged without preset results,” Samardžić said.

Ivanović: Serbia far from victory

Serb List for Kosovo leader Oliver Ivanović has said that what happened at the UN Security Council Friday can by no means be regarded as Serbian and Russian victory, rather as "a display of weakness on the part of the United States and the EU that called for a rapid solution, making promises they could not keep."

“By making this move the U.S. is trying to find a way out of a situation it was in,” he said, adding that Serbia must not accept that the final decision in the status was made by the Contact Group.

“I believe it is not possible to transfer the decision-making authority from the UN Security Council to an informal body like the Contact Group.”