DSS: EU mission cancels SAA

A Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) spokesman says sending an EU mission to Kosovo would stop Serbia's EU integration. Andreja Mladenovic told reporters Saturday that "the EU would cancel the initialed Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia," if on January 28 it takes the decision to send its mission to Kosovo, "in order to implement the rejected Ahtisaari plan." DSS: EU mission cancels SAA "The EU, when Serbia is concerned, has to strictly abide by its own founding acts that guarantee sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states with which the EU concludes the agreement, and for that reason it has to strictly respect the agreement initialed also with Serbia," Mladenovic told Tanjug. "We expect the EU to desist from illegally sending a mission to Kosovo and Metohija and to respect international law, the UN Charter, Resolution 1244 and the initialed SAA with Serbia," the spokesman for Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's party added. Some EU officials have announced that on January 28 the EU might formally decide to send a mission to Kosovo. Serbia and the EU initialed the SAA on November 7 in Brussels, while latest announcements coming from the next EU chair, Slovenia, say that the signing will take place at the end of January. Meanwhile, another DSS official commented on the apparent revival of the Kosovo blueprint put together by Martti Ahtisaari earlier this year, which has been blocked a the UN on several occasions by Russia, and rejected by official Belgrade. "The United States is keeping up the pressure, for the sake of realizing American interests from annex 11 of the rejected Ahtisaari plan, in order to have a unilateral independence of Kosovo declared," Kostunica's media adviser Srdjan Djuric told journalists also Saturday. "The State Department persistently reiterates that it will directly violate UN Resolution 1244 and in that way take up exclusive responsibility for violating the international order, and stability and peace in the region," Djuric reacted to the latest Kosovo statement by State Department spokesman Tom Casey. Casey said that America and the majority of the international community think that the time had come for determining the status of Kosovo in keeping with the Ahtisaari plan, after negotiations led by the Contact Group Troika did not result in a status agreement. Casey added that on the based on this, "the United States and the majority of others in the international community believe that they had to move towards the realization of Ahtisaari's plan."

DSS: EU mission cancels SAA

"The EU, when Serbia is concerned, has to strictly abide by its own founding acts that guarantee sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states with which the EU concludes the agreement, and for that reason it has to strictly respect the agreement initialed also with Serbia," Mladenović told Tanjug.

"We expect the EU to desist from illegally sending a mission to Kosovo and Metohija and to respect international law, the UN Charter, Resolution 1244 and the initialed SAA with Serbia," the spokesman for Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica's party added.

Some EU officials have announced that on January 28 the EU might formally decide to send a mission to Kosovo.

Serbia and the EU initialed the SAA on November 7 in Brussels, while latest announcements coming from the next EU chair, Slovenia, say that the signing will take place at the end of January.

Meanwhile, another DSS official commented on the apparent revival of the Kosovo blueprint put together by Martti Ahtisaari earlier this year, which has been blocked a the UN on several occasions by Russia, and rejected by official Belgrade.

"The United States is keeping up the pressure, for the sake of realizing American interests from annex 11 of the rejected Ahtisaari plan, in order to have a unilateral independence of Kosovo declared," Koštunica's media adviser Srđan Đurić told journalists also Saturday.

"The State Department persistently reiterates that it will directly violate UN Resolution 1244 and in that way take up exclusive responsibility for violating the international order, and stability and peace in the region," Đurić reacted to the latest Kosovo statement by State Department spokesman Tom Casey.

Casey said that America and the majority of the international community think that the time had come for determining the status of Kosovo in keeping with the Ahtisaari plan, after negotiations led by the Contact Group Troika did not result in a status agreement.

Casey added that on the based on this, "the United States and the majority of others in the international community believe that they had to move towards the realization of Ahtisaari's plan."