By Prensa Latina
Belgrade : Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica condemned on Friday the formation of an international group to monitor the unilateral separation of the Serbian province of Kosovo.
The International Supervision Group, created in Vienna yesterday, is composed of 15 countries and is unaffiliated with the UN Security Council. It recognizes the separation of Kosovo, and elected Dutch diplomat Pieter Feith as “international civil representative” for Kosovo.
Pieter Feith will be the head of the European judicial-police mission helping Albanians and Kosovares implement the independence plan proposed by international mediator Martti Ahtisaari last year.
According to a written declaration by Prime Minister Kostunica, published on the Serbian government’s webpage, the creation of the International Group is a coarse violation of international laws, UN Security Council Resolution 1244 of 1999 and the Serbian Constitution.
In the declaration, Kostunica urged UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to state how and on which legal bases the International Group was created, similarly for the international civil representative and the Ahtisaari Plan, which was rejected by the Security Council and Serbia.
Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Vuc Jeremic also wrote a letter to Ban Ki Moon, in which he said Serbia did not recognize the creation of the International Group or the transfer of UN competence on Kosovo from the UN Mission for Kosovo (UNMIK).
Jeremic insisted that the only and legitimate authority to establish international presence in Kosovo is the UN Security Council, which has not recognized the separation of Kosovo.
Serbia considers Kosovo a part of its national territory, and announced it is fighting a political and diplomatic battle to stop recognition of the separation of Kosovo by international organizations.