Ambassador recommendation stirs spirits

Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic's proposal yesterday to send recalled ambassadors back has drawn both criticism and praise. His cabinet colleague and SPS leader Ivica Dacic said last night in reaction to the suggestion that Serbia's ambassadors to those EU countries that have recognized Kosovo Albanians' declaration of secession should be returned, that this will be discussed "in the next couple of days". Ambassador recommendation stirs spirits Jeremic, DS, spoke in a news conference at the government headquarters on Sunday when he said that his recommendation will be put before the government session on Thursday. Dacic, who is interior minister, said the best solution that should serve the national interest of the country should be found, adding that he had not officially received the proposal and that he "could not comment on statements certain ministers give to the press". "We want to open our country to the international community, but we need to have a clear plan,” Dacic said, noting that it was "obvious that the previous government did not have a clear action plan, since it was never sent to parliament”. But senior official of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) Slobodan Samardzic said that the announcement that ambassadors might be returned to the EU countries represented country’s "capitulation" before the states that have recognized Kosovo’s secession. "Serbia’s capitulation is behind all this, and since the defense of Kosovo and Metohija has been given up on, Russia too has given up her firm defense of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia,” the former minister for Kosovo said last night. But the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) welcomed the announced move. "We are glad that they have realized the decision to withdraw ambassadors was wrong,” said LDP senior official Zoran Ostojic. He added that this party insisted that Serbia's highest diplomatic representatives abroad should not have been recalled in the first place, and explained that the LDP believes Serbia needs "dialog with the EU countries, and not isolation". These sentiments were echoed by the leader of United Serbia (JS), Dragan Markovic Palma, who reacted yesterday by saying that the return of Serbia’s ambassadors to the EU countries is a good move, that should have been done much earlier. "If we are going to fight with diplomatic means the only way to do so is to have contacts and to cooperate with the EU countries that have recognized Kosovo’s independence,” he said. Markovic also said those who believed Serbia should not join the EU because most of this organization's members had recognized Kosovo’s unilateral independence, was wrong. Meanwhile, Jeremic spoke to state television RTS late on Sunday to say that the announced return of Serbia's ambassadors to EU states "does not imply any change in the state policy concerning Kosovo", and that Serbia will "continue to fight for the preservation of its territorial integrity using all legal, diplomatic and political means available". Jeremic rejected Samardzic's assertion that the announced move was the country's capitulation. "We are very careful in determining this measure and there is no normalization of relations with any other country that violated the sovereignty and integrity of our country in its act of recognition of the unilateral and illegal proclamation of the independence of Kosovo and Metohija," he said. Jeremic clarified that the Foreign Ministry, "following consultations with the European Union, Moscow, the United Nations secretary-general, and President Boris Tadic", decided to propose to the government a partial revision of the Action Plan which implies the return of ambassadors to EU countries and a normalization of relations. The minister also pointed out that the proposal is aimed at increasing Serbia's diplomatic resources and efforts to secure the status of a candidate-country for EU membership by the end of this year. Kosovo Serbs react Vice President of the Assembly of Union of Municipalities of Kosovo-Metohija Marko Jaksic, who is an official of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) believes that any return of ambassadors to the countries that recognized Kosovo's unilateral independence is tantamount to a deviation from the continuity of state policy towards the province and means that "we agree that Kosovo should be independent". Jaksic told Tanjug he believed "this approach of our foreign policy is not for the purpose of preservation of Kosovo" and that "it seems evident that the European Union is more important than the issue of Kosovo-Metohija." On the other hand, Vice President of the Serb People's Council of Kosovo-Metohija Radmila Trajkovic believes that Jeremic's initiative is "in the function of establishing communication with EU member-states which have nearly the crucial influence on Serbia's path to the European Union". She believes that Serbia should support all diplomatic initiatives, including those oriented towards the countries which have recognized the secession declaration, "because otherwise Serbia may only Russia as a strong state behind the state project, which would not guarantee a normalization of life for the Serb community in the province". Expected and normal Head of the European Parliament's delegation for South-East Europe Doris Pack has welcomed the announcement of Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic that he will propose the return of Serbian ambassadors to the EU member-states that recognized Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence. "This is an expected and normal step," she told the Serbian language broadcast of the Deutsche Welle Radio and added that it would be "stupid and rash to isolate oneself from the countries with which one had to have good relations, particularly EU member-states". But she added that the return of Serbian ambassadors "has nothing to do with EU membership". "Serbia's EU membership is connected to the well-known conditions and it is evident that cooperation with the Hague Tribunal is one of the toughest conditions for Serbia," Pack said, and added that Serbia had to extradite Bosnian Serb war-time political and military leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.

Ambassador recommendation stirs spirits

Jeremić, DS, spoke in a news conference at the government headquarters on Sunday when he said that his recommendation will be put before the government session on Thursday.

Dačić, who is interior minister, said the best solution that should serve the national interest of the country should be found, adding that he had not officially received the proposal and that he "could not comment on statements certain ministers give to the press".

"We want to open our country to the international community, but we need to have a clear plan,” Dačić said, noting that it was "obvious that the previous government did not have a clear action plan, since it was never sent to parliament”.

But senior official of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) Slobodan Samardžić said that the announcement that ambassadors might be returned to the EU countries represented country’s "capitulation" before the states that have recognized Kosovo’s secession.

"Serbia’s capitulation is behind all this, and since the defense of Kosovo and Metohija has been given up on, Russia too has given up her firm defense of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia,” the former minister for Kosovo said last night.

But the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) welcomed the announced move.

"We are glad that they have realized the decision to withdraw ambassadors was wrong,” said LDP senior official Zoran Ostojić.

He added that this party insisted that Serbia's highest diplomatic representatives abroad should not have been recalled in the first place, and explained that the LDP believes Serbia needs "dialog with the EU countries, and not isolation".

These sentiments were echoed by the leader of United Serbia (JS), Dragan Marković Palma, who reacted yesterday by saying that the return of Serbia’s ambassadors to the EU countries is a good move, that should have been done much earlier.

"If we are going to fight with diplomatic means the only way to do so is to have contacts and to cooperate with the EU countries that have recognized Kosovo’s independence,” he said.

Marković also said those who believed Serbia should not join the EU because most of this organization's members had recognized Kosovo’s unilateral independence, was wrong.

Meanwhile, Jeremić spoke to state television RTS late on Sunday to say that the announced return of Serbia's ambassadors to EU states "does not imply any change in the state policy concerning Kosovo", and that Serbia will "continue to fight for the preservation of its territorial integrity using all legal, diplomatic and political means available".

Jeremić rejected Samardžić's assertion that the announced move was the country's capitulation.

"We are very careful in determining this measure and there is no normalization of relations with any other country that violated the sovereignty and integrity of our country in its act of recognition of the unilateral and illegal proclamation of the independence of Kosovo and Metohija," he said.

Jeremić clarified that the Foreign Ministry, "following consultations with the European Union, Moscow, the United Nations secretary-general, and President Boris Tadić", decided to propose to the government a partial revision of the Action Plan which implies the return of ambassadors to EU countries and a normalization of relations.

The minister also pointed out that the proposal is aimed at increasing Serbia's diplomatic resources and efforts to secure the status of a candidate-country for EU membership by the end of this year.

Kosovo Serbs react

Vice President of the Assembly of Union of Municipalities of Kosovo-Metohija Marko Jakšić, who is an official of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) believes that any return of ambassadors to the countries that recognized Kosovo's unilateral independence is tantamount to a deviation from the continuity of state policy towards the province and means that "we agree that Kosovo should be independent".

Jakšić told Tanjug he believed "this approach of our foreign policy is not for the purpose of preservation of Kosovo" and that "it seems evident that the European Union is more important than the issue of Kosovo-Metohija."

On the other hand, Vice President of the Serb People's Council of Kosovo-Metohija Radmila Trajković believes that Jeremić's initiative is "in the function of establishing communication with EU member-states which have nearly the crucial influence on Serbia's path to the European Union".

She believes that Serbia should support all diplomatic initiatives, including those oriented towards the countries which have recognized the secession declaration, "because otherwise Serbia may only Russia as a strong state behind the state project, which would not guarantee a normalization of life for the Serb community in the province".

Expected and normal

Head of the European Parliament's delegation for South-East Europe Doris Pack has welcomed the announcement of Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić that he will propose the return of Serbian ambassadors to the EU member-states that recognized Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence.

"This is an expected and normal step," she told the Serbian language broadcast of the Deutsche Welle Radio and added that it would be "stupid and rash to isolate oneself from the countries with which one had to have good relations, particularly EU member-states".

But she added that the return of Serbian ambassadors "has nothing to do with EU membership".

"Serbia's EU membership is connected to the well-known conditions and it is evident that cooperation with the Hague Tribunal is one of the toughest conditions for Serbia," Pack said, and added that Serbia had to extradite Bosnian Serb war-time political and military leaders Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić.