"Kosovo will declare independence"

Former Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic reckons Pristina will unilaterally declare Kosovo independence on December 11 or 12. “Pristina could unilaterally declare Kosovo independence on December 11 or 12, or possibly because of the Christmas holidays, wait until January, after a which a whole series of countries could recognize that independence,” Draskovic told today's edition of Novi Sad daily Gradjanski List. "Kosovo will declare independence" In his opinion, this wave of recognitions could be launched “by a chain of predominantly Islamic countries.” “I assume that the EU and the U.S. won’t be in too much of a hurry to recognize, though they will do so in the end, in order to complete the magic number of 192 states needed for recognition of independence to become legitimate,” said the former minister. He said that direct talks on Kosovo between Belgrade and Pristina did not exist as such, and that it was all just a form of manipulation. “That’s one of the forms of manipulation, as there are no direct talks. They can’t be called direct when neither side is listening to the other’s suggestions,” said Draskovic. “Missed chance in Rambouillet” President of the Serb Renewal Movement Draskovic said last night in Kragujevac that at the Kosovo talks in Rambouillet, Serbia was offered a document according to which “Kosovo had essential autonomy within the borders of Yugoslavia and Serbia,” while at the same time ruling out the possibility of an Albanian referendum on independence in the long term. Under the terms of the document, 2000 Serb soldiers and 3000 police officers would have remained in the province, while there was also the prospect of parallel legal systems for Albanians and Serbs, said Draskovic. Furthermore, NATO troops together with Serb forces would have disarmed the Kosovo Liberation Army and confiscated weapons from all Kosovo civilians. At the promotion of his new book, “Target”, in Kragujevac, Draskovic said that Serbia had then spurned an opportunity to get what it was now fighting so hard for, stressing that the current authorities’ rhetoric on the Kosovo issue was identical to that of Milosevic during the Rambouillet discussions. He said that that was why he was pessimistic about the outcome of talks, particularly as “up to now we haven’t missed a single opportunity – to miss an opportunity.” Vuk Draskovic (FoNet, archive)

"Kosovo will declare independence"

In his opinion, this wave of recognitions could be launched “by a chain of predominantly Islamic countries.”

“I assume that the EU and the U.S. won’t be in too much of a hurry to recognize, though they will do so in the end, in order to complete the magic number of 192 states needed for recognition of independence to become legitimate,” said the former minister.

He said that direct talks on Kosovo between Belgrade and Priština did not exist as such, and that it was all just a form of manipulation.

“That’s one of the forms of manipulation, as there are no direct talks. They can’t be called direct when neither side is listening to the other’s suggestions,” said Drašković.

“Missed chance in Rambouillet”

President of the Serb Renewal Movement Drašković said last night in Kragujevac that at the Kosovo talks in Rambouillet, Serbia was offered a document according to which “Kosovo had essential autonomy within the borders of Yugoslavia and Serbia,” while at the same time ruling out the possibility of an Albanian referendum on independence in the long term.

Under the terms of the document, 2000 Serb soldiers and 3000 police officers would have remained in the province, while there was also the prospect of parallel legal systems for Albanians and Serbs, said Drašković.

Furthermore, NATO troops together with Serb forces would have disarmed the Kosovo Liberation Army and confiscated weapons from all Kosovo civilians.

At the promotion of his new book, “Target”, in Kragujevac, Drašković said that Serbia had then spurned an opportunity to get what it was now fighting so hard for, stressing that the current authorities’ rhetoric on the Kosovo issue was identical to that of Milošević during the Rambouillet discussions.

He said that that was why he was pessimistic about the outcome of talks, particularly as “up to now we haven’t missed a single opportunity – to miss an opportunity.”