Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Serbian president tells Schroeder Kosovo independence "unacceptable" - BBC

1 comment:

KosovaReport said...

Presenter] Germany and Serbia are strategic partners in both politics and business, Serbian President Boris Tadic and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder concluded after their meeting in Berlin.

[Sanjevic] Kosovo and Metohija's independence is unacceptable for Serbia and it would destabilize the entire region, Serbian President Boris Tadic told German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. The conclusion of the meeting today was that for this very reason a solution that is acceptable to all must be found.

Placing security, judiciary, education and medical care in Serb hands in Kosovo and Metohija is something we have to work on, the Serbian president said.

[Tadic] My proposal was that the essence of these changes and the final solution for Kosovo and Metohija be prepared very carefully by experts and that this be discussed at the German-Serbian level as soon as possible. I think that we will organize these talks to mutual satisfaction.

[Sanjevic] Another topic of the meeting between President Tadic and German Chancellor Schroeder was Serbia's cooperation with the Hague tribunal. According to Boris Tadic, this cooperation must not destabilize Serbia.

[Tadic] I think that we can find a solution. In the days ahead, it will be necessary to get in direct contact with the Hague institution to re-establish trust between Serbian institutions and the Hague tribunal, especially in view of the fact that tribunal president Mr Meron and Carla Del Ponte will present a report to the UN Security Council, which could fundamentally define our international position after November.

[Sanjevic] The Serbian president and the German chancellor also discussed the ways to improve economic cooperation between the two countries. We have asked Germany for help in the textile industry and the reconstruction of the Bajina Basta hydro-electric plant and the Tamnova open cast mine, President Tadic said. According to him, Gerhard Schroeder supported all the projects proposed by our delegation in Berlin today.

Late this afternoon, Serbian President Boris Tadic held a lecture at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. According to him, political stability in Serbia is being secured by the agreement on the continuation of political and economic reforms. The absence of this consensus would put political stability in Serbia at risk and raise the question of the purpose of cohabitation between the president and the government.