Serbia's draft resolution on Kosovo finalized

Serbia's draft resolution on Kosovo finalized

The text will reiterate the established position of Belgrade, but also cite the acceptable parts of the UN Special Envoy’s plan. However, statehood trappings Ahtisaari gives to Kosovo will be strongly opposed.

The previous resolution on Kosovo had been adopted prior to the first round of talks in Vienna. It contained general aspects of the solution to Kosovo problems, which could barely be of any help to Kosovo Serbs.

Dejan Baljošević, a citizen of Kosovo town of Orahovo, told B92 that he expected the resolution to be more precise than the one that preceded it: “Serbs in Orahovo are used to hearing about various resolutions on Kosovo, but can not make up much of it. They directly witness the situation in the province and fear what may happen in the days to come. Kosovo Serbs wish to know what their future would be like after the Kosovo status has been finalized”.

Milan Ivanović from the Serbian National Council of Northern Kosovo said that the Belgrade resolution clearly outlined Serbia’s position. “I wish to see the Serbian Parliament send a strong message to the international community that it will not give up on Kosovo, nor accept imposed solutions. Our people reject the partition of Serbia”, Ivanović added.

Zoran Lutovac from the Institute for Social Sciences said that the Serbian resolution would be indicative of the genuine situation in Kosovo, and draw upon Ahtisaari’s draft proposal. “The resolution will surely affect the course of events in Serbia’s politics, but it shouldn’t’ be set as a prerequisite to the future government. Serbia will try its best to form a stable democratic government and commit to the negotiations over Kosovo. It wouldn’t be wise to maneouvre Kosovo status talks by using the makeup of new cabinet as leverage”, Lutovac concluded.

The resolution has been drafted by Leon Kojen and Slobodan Samardžić, co-ordinators of the current Belgrade negotiating team. 

Sources have also revealed to B92 that the Vienna talks shouldn’t last more than one week. Negotiating parties are expected to discuss the annexes of the plan, and Martti Ahtisaari is set to hold a press conference on the first day of the talks.