Parliament rejects Ahtisaari plan

Parliament rejects Ahtisaari plan

The resolution extends the mandate of the Belgrade negotiating team for the continuation of talks on Kosovo's status, due to begin on February 21 in Vienna, and provides a framework for the team to follow.

As many as 225 deputies voted in favor of the Resolution, 15 against and no abstentions. All deputies of the coalition gathered around the Liberal Party of Serbia cast their vote against the Resolution.

Riza Halimi, representing the Coalition of Preševo Valley Albanians as the sole Albanian deputy in the Parliament, took part in the debate voicing disagreement with the Resolution. He left the room during the vote.

Following the adoption of the Resolution, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica said that the Parliament’s Resolution on Kosovo was more than clear in its statement against the violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia.

“The text of the Resolution explicitly calls for the compliance with the UN Charter and the international law. The basic principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that apply to the whole world must apply to Serbia”, Koštunica said.

“We will go to Vienna to explain that Serbia is ready for every sensible compromise and agreement with everyone who respects principles that the international order is based on”, the Serbian PM confirmed.

According to the the AP, the new parliament's rejection of  the plan dooms hopes of a compromise between Serbian and Albanian officials at a final round of negotiations scheduled to take place in Vienna.

The AP adds that a resolution to the dispute over Kosovo's final status will probably have to be imposed by the UN Security Council.

Ahtisaari “not surprised”

The UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari said he was not surprised to see the Serbian parliament reject his Kosovo status proposal.

In an interview with The Associated Press a day after Serbia's parliament overwhelmingly rejected his plan, Martti Ahtisaari conceded that the rival sides “are rather stuck” on Kosovo's future status.

“It's highly unlikely that we can move on that issue,” he told the agency.

Ahtisaari – the former Finnish president, who has mediated an end to crises in Africa and Asia – also called on pro-independence activists to refrain from violence like the bloodshed that marred a rally in the provincial capital, Priština, where two demonstrators were killed and two others critically injured last week.

“I hope that those who have been planning this will think carefully about what they really want,” Ahtisaari told the AP in his office in Vienna. “I hope the people use the right to demonstrate peacefully, but leave the stones and stone-throwing outside the demonstrations.”

Ahtisaari said he still holds out hope that the rival sides will be able to reach agreement on other, more technical aspects of his 58-page proposal in negotiations set to resume next week in Vienna. “This is a chance for them to make their points,” he said.

But the envoy said he was not surprised at Serbia's fierce opposition to his plan.

“I don't think anybody expected the Serbian parliament to say, 'We welcome the independence of Kosovo,'” he said.