New York response to Samardžić plan imminent

New York will soon respond to the proposal submitted to UNMIK by Slobodan Samardzic, says the UN mission. In an interview on KiM radio in Caglavica, UNMIK spokesman Aleksandar Ivanko said that he was familiar with the document about a functional partition of Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo, passing on a statement from UNMIK Deputy Chief Larry Rossin that some parts of the agreement were not in accordance with the UNMIK mandate in Kosovo. New York response to Samardzic plan imminent “I don’t think that any partition of Kosovo is possible because a lot of Serbs live here in the enclaves, and they have to cooperate with their neighbors, who are Albanians. We have to try to turn Kosovo into a multi-ethnic society, and in a multi-ethnic society there should be no partition. We have to talk to see how we can integrate everybody into one society, and not how we can separate them,” said Ivanko. He explained that the document did not contain a single sentence concerning the return of Serbian forces to Kosovo and that the media had wrongly spread stories about that. Ivanko surmised that the situation in Kosovo was not perfect, but that progression was visible and, compared to before, there were almost no ethnically motivated attacks today in Kosovo. “The only way to reach reconciliation is through dialogue and not by finding ways to separate the communities in Kosovo,” said the UNMIK official. He said that parallel institutions, such as schools, health services and institutions of the Coordination center were present in Kosovo, and that the Ahtisaari plan envisaged their existence to a certain degree. Asked why UNMIK was explicitly quoting the Ahtisaari Plan, which had been rejected by the UN Security Council, Ivanko replied that the plan consisted of very positive elements that had been accepted by the EU. Alexander Ivanko (FoNet, archive) Samardzic proposal sort of partition, Judah Tim Judah, a British reporter for The Economist and an expert Balkans expert, said Tuesday that the draft agreement which Slobodan Samardzic has sent to the United Nations, is a "sort of proposal for the partition" of Serbia's southern province. "This is, in a sense, a proposal for partition, but I truly believe that this, in a way, is one half of the plan by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari, which represented a compromise – on the one hand, because it offered independence in exchange for a high level of autonomy for the Serbs," Judah was quoted by Tanjug news agency. The current proposal would establishing Serb autonomy in another way, in which Serbia, rather than Kosovo, would be the state for the Serb enclaves, Judah stated. He added that merely a month has passed since the unilateral declaration of the independence of Kosovo, and that it "remains to be seen what will happen there". "Serbia is now trying to see how far it can go. You had incidents on the border, in the courts. Maybe Samardzic now believes that it is time to put something on the table and see whether this will be accepted. This is a kind of paritition, but also acceptance of a part what Ahtisaari offered, without recognizing Kosovo as a state," Judah said.

New York response to Samardžić plan imminent

“I don’t think that any partition of Kosovo is possible because a lot of Serbs live here in the enclaves, and they have to cooperate with their neighbors, who are Albanians. We have to try to turn Kosovo into a multi-ethnic society, and in a multi-ethnic society there should be no partition. We have to talk to see how we can integrate everybody into one society, and not how we can separate them,” said Ivanko.

He explained that the document did not contain a single sentence concerning the return of Serbian forces to Kosovo and that the media had wrongly spread stories about that.

Ivanko surmised that the situation in Kosovo was not perfect, but that progression was visible and, compared to before, there were almost no ethnically motivated attacks today in Kosovo.

“The only way to reach reconciliation is through dialogue and not by finding ways to separate the communities in Kosovo,” said the UNMIK official.

He said that parallel institutions, such as schools, health services and institutions of the Coordination center were present in Kosovo, and that the Ahtisaari plan envisaged their existence to a certain degree.

Asked why UNMIK was explicitly quoting the Ahtisaari Plan, which had been rejected by the UN Security Council, Ivanko replied that the plan consisted of very positive elements that had been accepted by the EU.

Samardžić proposal sort of partition, Judah

Tim Judah, a British reporter for The Economist and an expert Balkans expert, said Tuesday that the draft agreement which Slobodan Samardžić has sent to the United Nations, is a "sort of proposal for the partition" of Serbia's southern province.

"This is, in a sense, a proposal for partition, but I truly believe that this, in a way, is one half of the plan by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari, which represented a compromise – on the one hand, because it offered independence in exchange for a high level of autonomy for the Serbs," Judah was quoted by Tanjug news agency.

The current proposal would establishing Serb autonomy in another way, in which Serbia, rather than Kosovo, would be the state for the Serb enclaves, Judah stated.

He added that merely a month has passed since the unilateral declaration of the independence of Kosovo, and that it "remains to be seen what will happen there".

"Serbia is now trying to see how far it can go. You had incidents on the border, in the courts. Maybe Samardžić now believes that it is time to put something on the table and see whether this will be accepted. This is a kind of paritition, but also acceptance of a part what Ahtisaari offered, without recognizing Kosovo as a state," Judah said.