By NNN-Antara
Jakarta : Indonesia has not yet decided whether to back Kosovo’s declaration of independence, its foreign ministry said Monday.
“The Indonesian government will follow developments in Kosovo closely and we are not yet in a position to give our recognition to their one-sided independence declaration,” foreign ministry spokesman Kristiarto Legowo said.
“The Indonesian government hopes that the independence declaration does not create tension and open conflict, especially with Serbia,” he said in a statement.
“Since the beginning, the Indonesian government has supported solving the Kosovan problem through dialogue and negotiation, so any agreement from the process will not create any tension and new conflict in the Balkan region.”
He said while Indonesia fully respected the principle of national sovereignty of UN members, it was also open to see the Kosovan issue as a “unique problem” following the break up of the former Yugoslavia.
The United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy have all indicated that they will Monday formally recognise Kosovo, while Russia and Serbia have opposed the move.
Kosovo’s Albanian-dominated parliament on Sunday unilaterally declared independence from Serbia. The area was put under UN administration after a 1999 NATO bombing campaign against Serbia’s crackdown on separatists.
Countries with separatist problems — from Spain to Sri Lanka — have expressed concern at Kosovo’s move.
Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago nation, has battled several long and bloody separatist movements since it declared independence from the Dutch in 1945.