Serbians and Spanish walk out of conference over Kosovo

Serbians and Spanish walk out of conference over Kosovo

The Serbian delegation, headed by committee chairman Zarko Obradovic, left the conference alongside the Spanish parliamentary delegation because of the way Kosovo was represented at the event.

The Serbian and Spanish delegations protested because temporary institutions in Pristina were represented with a flag and the name "Kosovo" without an asterisk (pointing to an explanation of its status), the Serbian National Assembly announced late on Thursday.

The conference was being held within the six-month Presidency of Austria over the Council of the European Union.

Yesterday, prior to the Conference, the Serbian delegation sent a request for representatives of the temporary organs from Pristina to be presented in accordance with the Regional Representation Agreement, after it was notified about the list of participants.

A delegation from the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain had the same views.

As the organizer, the Parliament of the Republic of Austria did not want to accept the request of the two delegations, and so representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain left the session.

"The organizer also failed to comply with the Statute of the Conference, which stipulates that only candidate countries for EU membership or NATO member states can have observer status," the statement said.