| Tadić: Kosovo constitution legally invalid |
| 15 June 2008 | 13:08
| Source:
Beta |
BELGRADE --
President Boris Tadić, DS, says Serbia does not accept the proclamation of the Kosovo constitution as a legal fact.
 | Tadić addresses the gathering today (Tanjug)
|
As he addressed reporters today, Tadić also announced that Belgrade will seek new negotiations over the status of the province.
"We are ready to return to the negotiating table and we will insist on this in all international forums. This will be our strategy and our answer to the declaration of the illegal so-called state of Kosovo and Metohija, more precisely the state of Kosovo," he said at the opening of the International Press Institute (IPI) World Congress in the Serbian capital.
Tadić added that today's proclamation of Kosovo's constitution is a political event with damaging consequences for Serbia, which views the document as legally invalid.
"Serbia sees Kosovo as her southern province and defends her integrity by peaceful means, with diplomacy, and not force," he continued.
Tadić said that there is a political consensus in the country that a Serb parliament should be set up in Kosovo, and added that Belgrade does not wish to cause any tensions or political conflicts in the province, but rather wants "democratic principles and democratic rules in the southern Serbian province".
"We want legitimate representatives of the Serb nation to have a chance to represent citizens that have voted for them. This is not a counterstrike, this is about respect of the democratic principles and the will of the citizens that have voted in the elections," he said.
As for the transfer of UNMIK powers to EULEX, Tadić said he made his position "abundantly clear" in the reply he sent to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's letter, and that this meant that "there will be no reconfiguration of the international civilian presence in Kosovo without a UN decision".
"Only the UN Security Council has jurisdiction to make such a decision. The EULEX mission is welcome in Kosovo under two conditions: that it is preceded by a UN SC decision and that it does not implement the Ahtisaari plan, which includes Kosovo's supervised independence," Tadić concluded.
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