"EULEX only with Belgrade's agreement"

President Boris Tadic today in Belgrade met with Cyprus Foreign minister Marcos Kyprianou. Reports after the meeting said that the two officials reaffirmed their countries' common stand that the work of the EULEX mission in Kosovo had to be agreed on with Belgrade, "with full observation of territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia, and confirmed at the UN Security Council". "EULEX only with Belgrade's agreement" "The European Union can have its mission in Kosovo-Metohija, which has gone through the UN Security Council procedure, but this mission cannot implement the Ahtisaari plan," the Serbian president said, and urged a dialogue with the United Nations on the reconfiguration of the international presence in Kosovo, the presidential press service said in a statement. Tadic told Kyprianou that Serbia's strategy was to request through the UN institutions the International Court of Justice's opinion on the illegality of recognition of Kosovo Albanians' unilateral declaration of independence. The president said that this would be a clear legal formulation to all countries which were still considering what to do, "but also to those which had already made this illegal step by recognizing the illegal, unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo-Metohija", the statement said. Tadic thanked Cyprus for observing international law, especially for the support to Serbia's preservation of territorial integrity and sovereignty as well as for a strong support to Serbia's European integration ambition. The Serbian president and the Cyprus minister also discussed bilateral cooperation, particularly in the field of economy and tourism. After his meeting with Foreign Minster Vuk Jeremic, Kyprianou said that EULEX must deploy "respecting Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty and in line with UN Resolution 1244, which in fact regulates the situation in Kosovo". He also met with Speaker Slavica Djukic Dejanovic, SPS, and was quoted as saying that his country insisted on an immediate implementation of the Serbian-EU transitional agreement and speedy ratification of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA). Kyprianou said that Cyprus gave its full support to Serbia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and that the future status of Kosovo has to be solved through a bilateral agreement with the observation of principle of international law. "This is why Cyprus will never recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo-Metohija and believes that the European Union will have to take a neutral stand on the issue, since this is something on which each individual country should make a decision", the Cypriot foreign minister said. He continued that his country supported Serbia on its path of EU accession and believed that Belgrade should move towards this goal more speedily, which was why Cyprus insisted on an immediate implementation of the interim agreement and ratification of the SAA. Djukic Dejanovic thanked Cyprus for its principled support to the preservation of Serbia's sovereignty and strengthening of the state and national identity and speedy EU integration. She also pointed at a lack of principled attitude of the Hague Tribunal regarding accused Serbs, "because this had a negative effect on the public opinion and made it more difficult to fulfill the obligations taken towards the Tribunal", a statement after the meeting said. Kyprianou , Tadic meet in Belgrade on Wednesday (FoNet)

"EULEX only with Belgrade's agreement"

"The European Union can have its mission in Kosovo-Metohija, which has gone through the UN Security Council procedure, but this mission cannot implement the Ahtisaari plan," the Serbian president said, and urged a dialogue with the United Nations on the reconfiguration of the international presence in Kosovo, the presidential press service said in a statement.

Tadić told Kyprianou that Serbia's strategy was to request through the UN institutions the International Court of Justice's opinion on the illegality of recognition of Kosovo Albanians' unilateral declaration of independence.

The president said that this would be a clear legal formulation to all countries which were still considering what to do, "but also to those which had already made this illegal step by recognizing the illegal, unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo-Metohija", the statement said.

Tadić thanked Cyprus for observing international law, especially for the support to Serbia's preservation of territorial integrity and sovereignty as well as for a strong support to Serbia's European integration ambition.

The Serbian president and the Cyprus minister also discussed bilateral cooperation, particularly in the field of economy and tourism.

After his meeting with Foreign Minster Vuk Jeremić, Kyprianou said that EULEX must deploy "respecting Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty and in line with UN Resolution 1244, which in fact regulates the situation in Kosovo".

He also met with Speaker Slavica Đukić Dejanović, SPS, and was quoted as saying that his country insisted on an immediate implementation of the Serbian-EU transitional agreement and speedy ratification of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA).

Kyprianou said that Cyprus gave its full support to Serbia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and that the future status of Kosovo has to be solved through a bilateral agreement with the observation of principle of international law.

"This is why Cyprus will never recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo-Metohija and believes that the European Union will have to take a neutral stand on the issue, since this is something on which each individual country should make a decision", the Cypriot foreign minister said.

He continued that his country supported Serbia on its path of EU accession and believed that Belgrade should move towards this goal more speedily, which was why Cyprus insisted on an immediate implementation of the interim agreement and ratification of the SAA.

Đukić Dejanović thanked Cyprus for its principled support to the preservation of Serbia's sovereignty and strengthening of the state and national identity and speedy EU integration.

She also pointed at a lack of principled attitude of the Hague Tribunal regarding accused Serbs, "because this had a negative effect on the public opinion and made it more difficult to fulfill the obligations taken towards the Tribunal", a statement after the meeting said.