Direct messages of President Chirac to Serbian President Tadic (Zëri)

In the leading front-page story, Zëri reports that the united positions of the Contact Group for Kosovo, from the meeting last Tuesday in Paris, are expected to be tested during the two-day visit that Serbian President Boris Tadic will pay to Paris on 19-20 December.

During his visit, the Serbian President will meet French President Jacques Chirac, Foreign Minister Philipe Douste-Blazy, Defence Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie, and other high-ranking officials.

The paper cites unnamed Western sources in Pristina as saying that one of the joint positions of the Contact Group is to convey to high-ranking authorities in Belgrade that the Guiding Principles are obligatory for all actors involved in the resolution of Kosovo’s status.

Zëri notes that the Serbian President is considered by almost all Western capitals as the most pro-Western politician in Serbia and as the only hope of Serbia’s political scene. Therefore, his insistence in positions that are diametrically opposed to the positions of the Contact Group is considered a major political mistake of his. The same sources told Zëri that Tadic is expected to receive firm messages from Chirac about the position of both Paris and the Contact Group, which firmly rules out Tadic’s proposal for division into two entities.