UK minister “won’t present ultimatum”

British Foreign Secretary William Hague is not bringing any threats or an ultimatum to Belgrade, according to a report in daily Blic. The Belgrade newspaper writes today that he was invited by President Boris Tadic, "whose cabinet has been lobbying for this visit for over a month in order to smooth over relations with Britain". UK minister “won’t present ultimatum” The goal of the meeting between Tadic and Hague is to solve all the misunderstandings between the two countries and decrease tensions, according to this article. The tension has increased since the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice was given regarding the legality of the Kosovo Albanian unilateral proclamation of independence. Serbia, which has rejected the proclamation, followed the ICJ ruling by submitting its draft resolution on Kosovo to the UN General Assembly. Hague would be meeting with Serbian senior officials several days after his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle, did the same. Blic writes that many international officials, British ambassador to Serbia Stephen Wordsworth included, were offended by the way Serbia presented its UN General Assembly resolution to them. The ambassadors were called into the Foreign Ministry and were read the resolution, which they had to write down by hand, after which it was immediately submitted to the UN General Assembly without any further consultations. This was humiliating, writes the newspaper. Blic cites sources in Brussels who say that Hague could ask Tadic to have the resolution withdrawn completely. However, he will likely not insist on this, and London would probably accept changes made to the resolution that would make it lose its purpose entirely, says the daily. Political analyst Nikola Jovanovic and editor of the "Challenges of European Integrations" publication was quoted as saying that it was really good that Hague is coming to Serbia, which was the result of Belgrade’s new, proactive stance. “It is an important visit for the desire of Belgrade to reach a compromise on the resolution, in order for it to be as neutral as possible. Hague is coming directly in relation to the recent visit of the German foreign minister, but I believe that this visit probably would not have happened if there was no improvement in relations after the German visit. In any case, the main priority is to smooth over the conflict,” said Jovanovic.

UK minister “won’t present ultimatum”

The goal of the meeting between Tadić and Hague is to solve all the misunderstandings between the two countries and decrease tensions, according to this article.

The tension has increased since the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice was given regarding the legality of the Kosovo Albanian unilateral proclamation of independence.

Serbia, which has rejected the proclamation, followed the ICJ ruling by submitting its draft resolution on Kosovo to the UN General Assembly.

Hague would be meeting with Serbian senior officials several days after his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle, did the same.

Blic writes that many international officials, British ambassador to Serbia Stephen Wordsworth included, were offended by the way Serbia presented its UN General Assembly resolution to them.

The ambassadors were called into the Foreign Ministry and were read the resolution, which they had to write down by hand, after which it was immediately submitted to the UN General Assembly without any further consultations.

This was humiliating, writes the newspaper.

Blic cites sources in Brussels who say that Hague could ask Tadić to have the resolution withdrawn completely.

However, he will likely not insist on this, and London would probably accept changes made to the resolution that would make it lose its purpose entirely, says the daily.

Political analyst Nikola Jovanović and editor of the "Challenges of European Integrations" publication was quoted as saying that it was really good that Hague is coming to Serbia, which was the result of Belgrade’s new, proactive stance.

“It is an important visit for the desire of Belgrade to reach a compromise on the resolution, in order for it to be as neutral as possible. Hague is coming directly in relation to the recent visit of the German foreign minister, but I believe that this visit probably would not have happened if there was no improvement in relations after the German visit. In any case, the main priority is to smooth over the conflict,” said Jovanović.