By IRNA
Berlin : Newly re-elected Serbian President Boris Tadic has warned against US and European efforts to “impose independence” on the Serbian breakaway province of Kosovo.
Addressing the traditional dinner meeting of the 44th Munich Conference on Security Policy in Munich, Tadic stressed Kosovo’s independence may lead to renewed political violence in the volatile West Balkan region.
“The precedent that would be established should Serbia be partitioned against its will? which is what the imposed independence of Kosovo is in truth? could in turn result in the escalation of many existing conflicts, the re-activation of a number of frozen conflicts, and the instigation of who knows how many new conflicts,” he said.
Backed by the US and numerous European Union states, ethnic Albanian leaders from Kosovo are expected to announce their independence from Serbia by mid-February.
Tadic stressed there was “still time to prevent the situation from spiraling needlessly out of control.”
The Serbian leader reiterated that the UN Security Council was the main venue to resolve the ongoing Kosovo crisis.
“The law in the case of Kosovo is set by the United Nations Security Council, as Resolution 1244 makes plain. Acting through the Security Council guarantees the ultimate legitimacy of outcomes.” The Serbian president called for “serious negotiations on Kosovo”.
“Serious negotiations are needed to protect the Serbs in Kosovo as well as our holy sites. Serious negotiations are needed to continue the international presence in Kosovo. And, surely, serious negotiations are needed if we hope to build a stable, democratic and multi-ethnic society in our southern province,” Tadic said.
“If in the weeks to come such negotiations do not occur, I fear that all three parties will end up paying a prohibitively high price.
And that is something that none of us can afford. I appeal to all the countries here present, and to the authorities in Pristina, to understand the spirit in which I make these remarks,” he added.
The Serbian chief executive emphasized that the “optimal solution” would be for “all of Serbia – including Kosovo – to become a member of the European Union.”
Pointing to Serbia’s EU membership bid, Tadic said that an isolation of his country was “not acceptable”.
The preservation of territorial integrity, and deep engagement with Europe and the world. These are the core principles, the basic tenets, of our national interest. And they will not change,” the president added.