UK ambassador: Unfortunate development

British Ambassador Stephen Wordsworth told a Belgrade daily that London is concerned over Belgrade's recent decision to expel two ambassadors.

Izvor: FoNet

Monday, 13.10.2008.

11:15

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British Ambassador Stephen Wordsworth told a Belgrade daily that London is concerned over Belgrade's recent decision to expel two ambassadors. He described the move that made the Montenegrin and Macedonian ambassadors personae non gratae in this country as "an unfortunate development, especially since good neighborly relations are a condition for European integrations through the process of stabilization and association". UK ambassador: Unfortunate development "Our Serb colleagues have told us many times that the goal of the initiative before the International Court of Justice is to move the debate from the political to the legal arena, so that we could at the same time move ahead with other business ahead of us," Blic newspaper quoted the ambassador as saying. Instead, he continued, Serbia decided to use the ICJ initiative vote to further sharpen its response to acts of recognition of Kosovo's independence declaration, primarily in relation to her "two small neighbors". Wordsworth reminded that Macedonia and Montenegro are both actively engaged in the process of stabilization and association with the EU, and that they have made more progress at this, with Skopje having a candidate status. Asked by the Blic reporter whether Belgrade has "jeopardized its European integrations", the British diplomat said that "any deterioration of relations with neighbors is a bad signal", but that he did not wish to make any conclusions yet. "We will talk to our European partners. We understand that Serbia must react in some way, it has done that before by withdrawing ambassadors from the countries that recognized Kosovo, but we see any need for aggravation in this case," he said. Asked to comment on the widespread belief that it was Britain, along with the United States, that pressured Podgorica and Skopje, Wordsworth said that while discussions on the subject took place, "there were no pressures from our side". "On the other hand, in both places we encountered information about some kind of warning from the Serb side. We could hear some 'dramatic' statements here, and we saw the measures that the government in Serbia undertook," he told the newspaper.

UK ambassador: Unfortunate development

"Our Serb colleagues have told us many times that the goal of the initiative before the International Court of Justice is to move the debate from the political to the legal arena, so that we could at the same time move ahead with other business ahead of us," Blic newspaper quoted the ambassador as saying.

Instead, he continued, Serbia decided to use the ICJ initiative vote to further sharpen its response to acts of recognition of Kosovo's independence declaration, primarily in relation to her "two small neighbors".

Wordsworth reminded that Macedonia and Montenegro are both actively engaged in the process of stabilization and association with the EU, and that they have made more progress at this, with Skopje having a candidate status.

Asked by the Blic reporter whether Belgrade has "jeopardized its European integrations", the British diplomat said that "any deterioration of relations with neighbors is a bad signal", but that he did not wish to make any conclusions yet.

"We will talk to our European partners. We understand that Serbia must react in some way, it has done that before by withdrawing ambassadors from the countries that recognized Kosovo, but we see any need for aggravation in this case," he said.

Asked to comment on the widespread belief that it was Britain, along with the United States, that pressured Podgorica and Skopje, Wordsworth said that while discussions on the subject took place, "there were no pressures from our side".

"On the other hand, in both places we encountered information about some kind of warning from the Serb side. We could hear some 'dramatic' statements here, and we saw the measures that the government in Serbia undertook," he told the newspaper.

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