Minister: Kosovo partition unacceptable

Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic said that a partition of Kosovo of any kind is out of the question and that the government has never discussed it. Bogdanovic told Belgrade daily Blic that the six-point plan regards the entire territory of Kosovo and that Belgrade is ready to discuss its implementation with the United Nations and EULEX. Minister: Kosovo partition unacceptable Belgrade said last November that it was accepting the deployment of EULEX under the condition that the plan, rejected by Kosovo Albanians, be adopted and implemented. Bogdanovic remineded that negotiations of the six points should be related to the police, courts, customs and protection of cultural and historical monuments. “We want the police in the Serbian areas to be of Serb ethnicity, and have a Serb official be the deputy of the international police. As far as the courts are concerned, there are negotiations going on with local court officials regarding our judges being of equal status in court processes, and to work according to the laws and regulations of UNMIK which were passed in 1999,” Bogdanovic explained. The minister said that it is unacceptable for Serbs to work according to laws of the so-called state of Kosovo, and added that nothing that Belgrade insisted on in the plan is being implemented currently. “Because of this we are constantly appealing to UNMIK to sit down and talk as soon as possible about implementing the agreement, so that the Serb communities in northern Kosovo, where there is currently a legal vacuum, can finally have functioning laws and security,” Bogdanovic stated. He added that Belgrade’s main goal is to initiate new negotiations, because the status of Kosovo has not been solved. “We want a compromise where both sides will be content, instead of having a situation where one side gets everything and the other side loses everything! Such relations frustrate the Serb community, because they believe that the international community has done an injustice towards Serbs and other non-Albanians,” Bogdanovic said. EULEX, he continued, can count on the cooperation of Serbia if it takes care of its tasks and solves the urgent issues. Bogdanovic said that there is no cooperation between Serbia and the International Civilian Office, ICO, and that there will be none in the foreseeable future, "until Pieter Feith changes his rhetoric". Feith heads the ICO and is EU's special representative in Kosovo. “Until they change their attitude and understand that other ethnic communities live in Kosovo, and that it is absolutely unacceptable for Serbs to have that office implement the plan of Martti Ahtisaari, we do not wish to cooperate with them,” Bogdanovic said.

Minister: Kosovo partition unacceptable

Belgrade said last November that it was accepting the deployment of EULEX under the condition that the plan, rejected by Kosovo Albanians, be adopted and implemented.

Bogdanović remineded that negotiations of the six points should be related to the police, courts, customs and protection of cultural and historical monuments.

“We want the police in the Serbian areas to be of Serb ethnicity, and have a Serb official be the deputy of the international police. As far as the courts are concerned, there are negotiations going on with local court officials regarding our judges being of equal status in court processes, and to work according to the laws and regulations of UNMIK which were passed in 1999,” Bogdanović explained.

The minister said that it is unacceptable for Serbs to work according to laws of the so-called state of Kosovo, and added that nothing that Belgrade insisted on in the plan is being implemented currently.

“Because of this we are constantly appealing to UNMIK to sit down and talk as soon as possible about implementing the agreement, so that the Serb communities in northern Kosovo, where there is currently a legal vacuum, can finally have functioning laws and security,” Bogdanović stated.

He added that Belgrade’s main goal is to initiate new negotiations, because the status of Kosovo has not been solved.

“We want a compromise where both sides will be content, instead of having a situation where one side gets everything and the other side loses everything! Such relations frustrate the Serb community, because they believe that the international community has done an injustice towards Serbs and other non-Albanians,” Bogdanović said.

EULEX, he continued, can count on the cooperation of Serbia if it takes care of its tasks and solves the urgent issues.

Bogdanović said that there is no cooperation between Serbia and the International Civilian Office, ICO, and that there will be none in the foreseeable future, "until Pieter Feith changes his rhetoric".

Feith heads the ICO and is EU's special representative in Kosovo.

“Until they change their attitude and understand that other ethnic communities live in Kosovo, and that it is absolutely unacceptable for Serbs to have that office implement the plan of Martti Ahtisaari, we do not wish to cooperate with them,” Bogdanović said.