Czech, Serbian presidents urge Kosovo compromise

President Boris Tadic and his Czech counterpart Vaclav Klaus met in Prague Monday. Beta reported that the two statesmen agreed a solution for Kosovo cannot be to the advantage of just one side and it must be a compromise reached through patient negotiations. Czech, Serbian presidents urge Kosovo compromise "No solution can be 10:0 for one side, perhaps it can be 6:5," Klaus told a news conference after the meeting, stressing that the Czech Republic fully understood Serbia's stand on the status of Kosovo. Klaus and Tadic both warned that an imposed unilateral solution would have disastrous consequences, and not just for the region. "We want to avoid any kind of violence. A new war would be disastrous for all - the Serbs, Albanians, the peoples of the Balkans, Europe, the U.S., and Russia," Tadic said, and underscored that a peaceful solution must be the fruit of the current negotiations, but not one that would give one side everything and leave the other with nothing. Vaclav Klaus also said that the Czech Republic, perhaps better than other EU member countries, understood that an imposed unilateral solution would have a long-term negative effect, not just for Serbia and the region, but for all of Europe as well. In his conversation with Klaus, Tadic once again highlighted Serbia's pro-European orientation, and when it came to the country's NATO membership said it was legitimate for parties to have differing opinions. However, on the matter of Kosovo Tadic warned that Serbia's EU membership could not be conditioned by issues related to its sovereignty and territorial integrity, just as no other country had been. Klaus, Tadic in Prague Monday (Tanjug)

Czech, Serbian presidents urge Kosovo compromise

"No solution can be 10:0 for one side, perhaps it can be 6:5," Klaus told a news conference after the meeting, stressing that the Czech Republic fully understood Serbia's stand on the status of Kosovo.

Klaus and Tadić both warned that an imposed unilateral solution would have disastrous consequences, and not just for the region.

"We want to avoid any kind of violence. A new war would be disastrous for all - the Serbs, Albanians, the peoples of the Balkans, Europe, the U.S., and Russia," Tadić said, and underscored that a peaceful solution must be the fruit of the current negotiations, but not one that would give one side everything and leave the other with nothing.

Vaclav Klaus also said that the Czech Republic, perhaps better than other EU member countries, understood that an imposed unilateral solution would have a long-term negative effect, not just for Serbia and the region, but for all of Europe as well.

In his conversation with Klaus, Tadić once again highlighted Serbia's pro-European orientation, and when it came to the country's NATO membership said it was legitimate for parties to have differing opinions.

However, on the matter of Kosovo Tadić warned that Serbia's EU membership could not be conditioned by issues related to its sovereignty and territorial integrity, just as no other country had been.