Germany "to ask Serbia to allow Kosovo UN observer status"

Germany "to ask Serbia to allow Kosovo UN observer status"

According to the article, "the West has clearly decided to solve the Kosovo issue by the end of the year" - while the news has arrived from Berlin -"true, via still unofficial channels" - that Germany will ask Serbia not to oppose the idea to allow Kosovo to become an observer at the UN.

This is not the first time such a proposal has been mentioned, Sputnik continued, "but Germany will now present it officially for the first time." The agency quotes "certain Belgrade media" who are saying that Germany's foreign minister will do this when he visits Belgrade on Thursday - a day before Aleksandar Vucic and Hashim Thaci meet in Brussels.

Reportedly the plan that the Germans will offer is modeled after the one that allowed Palestine to gain the same status at the UN in 2012, while it will become a full member once a peace agreement has been reached with Israel.

Former Serbian Ambassador to the UN Pavle Jeveremovic told Sputnik that the decision to grant this status does not depend on the UN Security Council, "or on our will in this case" - instead it must be supported by a two-thirds majority in the UN General Assembly.

Jeveremovic also observed that a proposal of this kind could have been made earlier by any country, but that "a sure vote" in favor was being awaited.

"I'm not sure Germany will submit this initiative to the UN General Assembly, because its failure would represent a big diplomatic blow to that country," he said. "On the other hand, the procedure is such that the General Assembly must first pass a resolution based on the initiative, and then vote on it."

According to Jeveremovic, "Serbia doesn't have to recognize Kosovo even if this scenario comes to pass," adding that the observer-states "have no particular role" within the UN, as they cannot participate in decision-making, or voting. Other than Palestine, the Vatican also has this status, he recalled.

Sputnik writes that Berlin is "not hiding its intention to have a legally binding agreement between Belgrade and Pristina signed by the end of the year," and adds that Germany has harmonized this initiative with the US - "which has been particularly active recently when it comes to Kosovo."