Top Serbian officials call for continued talks

Top Serbian officials call for continued talks

After the meeting between the Serbian and French diplomacy chiefs, Vuk Drašković said “our EU friends’ assessment that Serbia might embrace Euro-Atlantic integrations with huge enthusiasm in case of Kosovo’s imposed independence was wrong.”

Douste-Blazy said he could not specify the time necessary to adopt any new UN resolution on Kosovo.

Douste-Blazy also added the UN special envoy listened to what the two sides had to say in the negotiations, adding he did not see any new elements emerging in the meantime that might justify continued talks.

President Boris Tadić said last night after the meeting with the French foreign minister Kosovo’s independence was unacceptable to Serbia.

Tadić called for continued talks on Kosovo’s future status in order to reach a solution acceptable to both sides, a press release said.

“Ahtisaari’s plan does not come as a result of compromise, making it unacceptable for Serbia. Only a compromise solution could bring stability to the region,” Tadić said.

Prime minister Vojislav Koštunica said, after meeting Douste-Blazy, that the plan proposed by the U.N. special envoy Marti Ahtisaari was “illegal and illegitimate, because it violates the UN Charter and the UN SC Resolution 1244 and as such does not fulfill a single condition to be presented to the Security Council.”

Koštunica also said Ahtisaari’s plan was not based on compromise.

He added that the solution was “substantial autonomy for Kosovo within the borders of Serbia.”

Earlier Thursday in Priština, French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said France “fully supported UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari's proposal for Kosovo.”

"It presents a unique opportunity to ensure stability for Kosovo and to the region," Douste-Blazy said in Kosovo. "It is a balanced solution, which brings the aspiration of the majority of Kosovo with serious guarantees to its minorities."

Asked about the widening rift between the West and Russia over Kosovo, Douste-Blazy said it was important to show Russia that Kosovo is a specific issue and doesn't constitute a precedent in solving other conflicts.

"There is nothing to fear from any country from such a status," he said.