“No one to meet Ahtisaari”

“No one to meet Ahtisaari”

“The main issue in question is whether the Government, the sole state body entitled to run foreign policy, can accept the proposal and give its opinion within the timeframe that Martti Ahtisaari may set", Aligrudić said.  The new Government is not yet formed, and for the outgoing Government, "to take on that task would be irresponsible in my opinion", he continued. "In that sense, I believe that there is no need to rush things, having in mind the Constitutional time limits for the creation of a new government". 

“The outgoing government does not have the capacity to deal with foreign affairs, which is beneficial to Prime Minister Koštunica and Serbia for that matter”, Aligrudić said.  He added that the Belgrade negotiating team’s legitimacy stems from the Government, leaving its current authority in question. “Martti Ahtisaari must realize that three or four weeks is not too much to wait”, he concluded.

DSS spokesperson Andreja Mladenović condemned the fact that the UN Special Kosovo Envoy refused to wait until the new government is formed in Serbia to disclose his proposed solution for the Kosovo status.

“It seems like Serbia is being treated like a colonial state that should do everything that is expected of it. We cannot communicate in such a manner. It is questionable whether Ahtisaari would dare treat any other European country like he treats us – he probably wouldn’t”, Mladenović said.

Dourlot: Our position remains unchanged

The spokesperson for the UN Special Kosovo Envoy Remi Dourlot declined to comment on the Serbian Prime Minister’s decision not to receive Martti Ahtisaari, and the statements of some Serbian politicians that Ahtisaari’s visit is premature.

“We have always been clear about Ahtisaari’s visit to Serbia after the elections. We did not say that the new government had to be formed by that time”, Dourlot said, adding that it was “the Serbian Prime Minister’s interpretation of the Constitution” that triggered such comments in Belgrade.

"Why make Ahtisaari our enemy”

The Chief of the Serbian List for Kosovo Oliver Ivanović said that it was likely that Belgrade’s negotiating team would not receive Ahtisaari. He also explained that this situation is the result of the legal vacuum between the elections and the creation of the new government.

Ivanović warned that regardless of the position of Belgrade, Ahtisaari would continue with his plan to deliver the proposal to Priština and then set a time frame within which the Serbian side is to reply as well.

“I believe that careful consideration of our actions is essential, since it is not in our interest to make an enemy out of Ahtisaari”, Ivanović concluded.

“Government still legal”

Former President of the Constitutional Court Slobodan Vučetić said that the current government is still legal, but that it has lost legitimacy.

“The current government’s mandate has not yet ended even though the elections were held and the final results announced. The procedure of the compiling of the parliament and holding cabinet talks is under way”, said Vučetić.

“It can be argued that the outgoing government no longer has the legitimacy to perform all of its standard functions, and under current circumstances it should act as if its mandate has already ended, handling only technical matters”, Vučetić explained.