Sunday, October 22, 2006

Serbian PM not surprised UN envoy Ahtisaari failed to get Nobel Peace Prize

Text of report by Serbian TV on 21 October

[Presenter] Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has said that by placing Kosovo-Metohija into the preamble of the [new Serbian] Constitution, one in the best manner makes it known - from the point of view of historical and legal facts, primarily from that of the international law - that this province is an integral part of Serbia.

The constitutional preamble is merely copied from the United Nations Charter according to which there can be no alterations of internationally recognized borders, Kostunica said in an interview for tomorrow's edition of Vecernje novosti [daily].

The prime minister emphasized that the issue of the Constitution was an issue of the country's future, adding that one should not doubt that the citizens followed the events surrounding the drafting thereof with a great deal of care. The constitution is directly linked to the protection of our essential state and national interests, and here I primarily mean those concerning Kosovo-Metohija, Kostunica said.

Asked if the constitutional preamble would have an obliging character in the first place, Kostunica replied that it would stop having an obliging character the moment the UN Charter stop having it.

The prime minister said that he was not surprised with the fact that [UN special Kosovo envoy] Martti Ahtisaari had not received a Nobel Peace Prize, because his moves during the [Kosovo] negotiations were contrary to the spirit of this award.

Source: RTS 1 TV, Belgrade, in Serbian 1730 gmt 21 Oct 06

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