Serbian G17 official says Kosovo independence possible if Serbs get autonomy

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Text of report in English by independent internet news agency KosovaLive

Belgrade, 7 April: Cedomir Antic, an official of G17 Plus, a coalition partner in the Serbian government, is engaged for an international conference on Kosova's [Kosovo] status and a special entity for Kosova Serbs.

Antic told KosovaLive that Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus has also expressed this stance during designing of strategy on Kosova by Belgrade authorities.

"Kosovo is already independent from Serbia. But the problem lies with the fact that Serbia is not independent from Kosovo," assessed Antic.

Antic thinks that Serbia should be open to whatever option on Kosova's future status, and protection of Serb minority should be its priority.

"The G17 is engaged for resolving of status of Kosovo Serbs and then the status of Kosova. It is necessary the Serbs gain an entity as a region with broader autonomy first, through which they would keep the ties with the mother Serbia. If this is achieved, any option for Kosovo's final status is possible," Antic emphasized.

Cedomir Antic assessed that politicians in Kosova do not express a clear desire to realize full independence. "If political representatives of Kosova Albanians really want full independence, they should understand that this will not happen without dialogue with Belgrade. Given the fact that they delay such a dialogue, the year 2005 will end, and the question of status will not even be opened," said Antic.

He concluded that "another problem is that Belgrade behaves as if it does not know what they want and hope that the strategy they are working on will provide clear answers."

Source: KosovaLive web site, Pristina, in English 7 Apr 05