Monday, April 18, 2005

Balkan Commission's idea for Kosovo independence unacceptable - Serbian DSS

[Presenter] Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) spokesman Andreja Mladenovic said today that the idea put forward by the International Commission for the Balkans about gradual independence for Kosovo was utterly unacceptable.

Mladenovic told a news conference that it was especially upsetting that former Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic, who is now a deputy of the Democratic Party (DS) in the Serbian parliament, was taking part in the International Commission for the Balkans.

"It is strange that neither DS chairman Serbian President Boris Tadic nor the party have distanced themselves from Svilanovic's statement, which is very harmful and dangerous," Mladenovic said. He said that he expected the Serbian president to react and "show the citizens of Serbia what he advocates".

Mladenovic said that the "less than status, more than autonomy" proposal was a good basis for further negotiations on the status of Kosovo, but that it was still too early to comment what sort of position precisely this should be.

Asked whether "making concessions on" Kosovo-Metohija could be a condition for further accession to the European Union, Mladenovic said that "no-one has set such a condition" and that the DSS would never agree to Kosovo-Metohija being an independent state. [Passage omitted]

Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1153 gmt 18 Apr 05

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