Tadić “ready for compromise“

Tadić “ready for compromise“

Tadić explained the rationale behind the linkage between the formation of a new Serbian government and the Kosovo status issue.

“Forming a new government is of utmost importance when it comes to both taking the responsibility and negotiating over Kosovo. We cannot negotiate Kosovo’s future status in full capacity, defending our interests and bearing in mind our country’s European future, without a government,” Tadić said.

“Just as we insist that the Kosovo status talks need to see a compromise, so the cabinet talks inside Serbia need to arrive at a political compromise. I am ready to take my share of the responsibility in both instances,” Tadić told journalists.

The Socialist International South-East Europe chairman Mircea Geoana agreed with Tadić’s sense of urgency when it came to the necessity to form a new government.

Joana said he would recommend the forthcoming SI summit not to accept any imposed Kosovo solutions, describing them as “a recipe for trouble in the province”.

“I think Serbia’s position in this last stage of international talks on Kosovo’s status will be significantly weaker without a government in Belgrade. And, I also believe no one should put their personal political ambitions before Serbia’s national interests. Besides, Serbia’s membership in the EU and NATO cannot compensate for Kosovo,” Geoana added.

Greece’s PASOK president Yorgos Papandreou said after the meeting that while there was no ideal solution for Kosovo, one that created stability and came as a result of compromise and negotiations acceptable to both sides needed to be reached.

Bulgarian prime minister and SI co-president Sergei Stanishev and the SI Secretary General SI Luis Ayala also attended the meeting.

Koštunica: Ahtisaari’s proposal illegal, illegitimate

Prime minister Vojislav Kostunica also met with the SI delegation in Belgrade today.

He repeated on the occasion that “there is not a single condition for the UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari’s proposal on Kosovo-Metohija’s future status to be even considered by the UN Security Council since it is an illegal and illegitimate proposal that breaches the UN Charter and the Serbian Constitution,” the government’s web site reported.

Koštunica also called for renewed talks based on UN  Resolution 1244.

Koštunica warned that threats the Albanian threat of violence in case the province was not granted independence “must not be tolerated.”

“The international community must react immediately to these terror threats and send a clear message that every terrorist instead of being rewarded will be punished most severely,” Koštunica said.

He also warned that “responsibility for that violence cannot be transferred to victims and that such attempts represent the culmination of unacceptable policy of blackmail and threats.”

After their meeting with the Serbian prime minister, the SI delegation said that the solution to the future Kosovo status must be sustainable mindful of the regional stability and peace.