Jeremić: UN to decide on Belgrade conditions

FM Vuk Jeremic says Serbia will not support the UN secretary-general's report on Kosovo unless it contains all the conditions set by official Belgrade. Jeremic told B92 late on Saturday in Belgrade that "not much attention should be paid" to conflicting statements from EU officials on whether a deal had been struck between the sides to allow for the Brussels mission, EULEX, to deploy in the province. Jeremic: UN to decide on Belgrade conditions Belgrade has negotiated this issue with UN representatives only, while Ban Ki-moon's report on reconfiguration of the UN mission in Kosovo carries the most weight, he continued. There is "agreement in principle", according to the foreign minister, about what the report, due to be presented at the Tuesday session of the UN Security Council in New York, "should look like". "If Belgrade's clear conditions are explicitly listed there, Belgrade will support the report, along with the Russian Federation, and it will be adopted," Jeremic explained. "If Belgrade's conditions, clearly laid out, are not put on paper, are not put before the Security Council in a form acceptable to Belgrade, then Serbia will say 'no' and there will be no legal deployment of EULEX in the field." Serbia, according to him, insists on respect of her constitution and territorial integrity and sovereignty, "so that a reconfiguration of the international presence can be done if it remains status-neutral, and in line with the Serbian constitution and Resolution 1244". Meanwhile the opposition, led by former Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, DSS, sees the very negotiations on the deployment of EULEX as traitorous to Serbia's national interest. But Jeremic, DS, rejects these accusations: "We are using the negotiating platform adopted by the Serbian parliament. There is one unified Kosovo policy when it comes to the government of Serbia, we have inherited that policy, it represents a continuity in relation to the policy of the previous government." "A change of the Kosovo policy is out of the question. The focal point of it is to preserve [Serbia'] territorial integrity and sovereignty, and it shall remain so," he added. Jeremic then went on to qualify the possibility that the UN might accept Belgrade's conditions, "in other words, that the Security Council might confirm EULEX's status-neutrality", as, "a great national success for Serbia". The foreign minister added that "continued fight for Kosovo" requires state unity, and voiced his hope that the country "will remain united on this issue". Vuk Jeremic (FoNet, archive)

Jeremić: UN to decide on Belgrade conditions

Belgrade has negotiated this issue with UN representatives only, while Ban Ki-moon's report on reconfiguration of the UN mission in Kosovo carries the most weight, he continued.

There is "agreement in principle", according to the foreign minister, about what the report, due to be presented at the Tuesday session of the UN Security Council in New York, "should look like".

"If Belgrade's clear conditions are explicitly listed there, Belgrade will support the report, along with the Russian Federation, and it will be adopted," Jeremić explained.

"If Belgrade's conditions, clearly laid out, are not put on paper, are not put before the Security Council in a form acceptable to Belgrade, then Serbia will say 'no' and there will be no legal deployment of EULEX in the field."

Serbia, according to him, insists on respect of her constitution and territorial integrity and sovereignty, "so that a reconfiguration of the international presence can be done if it remains status-neutral, and in line with the Serbian constitution and Resolution 1244".

Meanwhile the opposition, led by former Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica, DSS, sees the very negotiations on the deployment of EULEX as traitorous to Serbia's national interest.

But Jeremić, DS, rejects these accusations:

"We are using the negotiating platform adopted by the Serbian parliament. There is one unified Kosovo policy when it comes to the government of Serbia, we have inherited that policy, it represents a continuity in relation to the policy of the previous government."

"A change of the Kosovo policy is out of the question. The focal point of it is to preserve [Serbia'] territorial integrity and sovereignty, and it shall remain so," he added.

Jeremić then went on to qualify the possibility that the UN might accept Belgrade's conditions, "in other words, that the Security Council might confirm EULEX's status-neutrality", as, "a great national success for Serbia".

The foreign minister added that "continued fight for Kosovo" requires state unity, and voiced his hope that the country "will remain united on this issue".