(italiano / english)
Serbia: NATO wants Kosovo as puppet state
--- ITALIANO ---
KOSOVO: NUOVE ACCUSE SERBE CONTRO IPOTESI PROTETTORATO NATO
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 20 AGO - Continua il botta e risposta tra settori
del governo serbo e Nato sul destino del Kosovo, la provincia
secessionista a maggioranza albanese che - accusano esponenti di
Belgrado - l'Alleanza Atlantica vorrebbe staccare definitivamente
dalla Serbia per farne un proprio protettorato. L'ultimo a rilanciare
la palla e' stato in queste ore Srdjan Djuric, capo ufficio stampa
del primo ministro serbo Vojislav Kostunica, secondo cui appare
improprio che un'alleanza militare esprima pareri sul futuro status
della provincia contesa. E avalli proposte come quella dell'ex
presidente finlandese Martti Ahtisaari - favorevole a una
''indipendenza sorvegliata'' del Kosovo - che di fatto
trasformerebbero la regione in ''uno Stato di proprieta' della
Nato''. Interpretazioni respinte da Bruxelles, dove si sostiene che
l'Alleanza ''non intende possedere alcuno Stato'', ne' architettare
nulla ''alle spalle della Serbia'', ma solo ''garantire condizioni di
sicurezza'' durante l'estrema fase negoziale promossa fra le parti
dalla nuova troika di mediatori euro-russo-americana creata dal
Gruppo di Contatto. E tuttavia interpretazioni che continuano a
circolare a Belgrado, almeno negli ambienti del Partito Democratico
di Serbia (Dss, conservatore) di Kostunica: la forza piu' oltranzista
in seno all'attuale esecutivo serbo di coalizione democratica nella
battaglia contro il riconoscimento d'ogni ipotesi di indipendenza del
Kosovo, e il piu' incline a immaginare un vero e proprio asse con
Mosca su questo punto, anche a costo di mettere in imbarazzo i
partner liberali di governo e di virare bruscamente dalla rotta euro-
atlantica avviata nel dopo-Milosevic. Tra i piu' polemici si segnala
il giovane ministro dell'Energia, Aleksandar Popovic, fedelissimo di
Kostunica con un passato di studi universitari in Russia, che in
un'intervista ripresa oggi dalla newsletter Vip ha avuto a sua volta
parole di fuoco contro Washington e Bruxelles, accusate entrambe di
non spingere per ''un compromesso accettabile'' perche' bramose di
creare ''uno staterello Nato'' sul territorio del Kosovo. Una realta'
in cui - a giudizio di Popovic - la unita' militari internazionali
sotto controllo Nato ''avrebbero poteri illimitati, non sottoposti ad
alcuna vera autorita' civile: cosa che non avviene in nessuno Stato
democratico, e meno che mai nei Paesi occidentali fondatori della
Nato''. (ANSA). LR
20/08/2007 15:49
--- ENGLISH ---
http://www.srbija.sr.gov.yu/vesti/vest.php?id=37422
Government of Serbia - August 14, 2007
Serbia will never accept NATO colony in Kosovo-Metohija
Belgrade – Serbian Minister of Education Zoran Loncar
said today that the entire international community
knows that Serbia will never accept that NATO makes a
quasi-state or military colony on its territory.
In a statement to the news agency Tanjug, Loncar said
that the issue of the Albanian minority in
Kosovo-Metohija provided NATO a chance to try and
establish its first puppet military state.
NATO took military action against Serbia, then sent
its troops to Kosovo-Metohija and now, through the
plan proposed by Martti Ahtisaari for determining the
future status of Kosovo-Metohija, it is attempting to
create its first military state, said the Minister.
Annex 11 of Ahtisaari’s plan directly proposes that
NATO must have unlimited authority in the allegedly
independent state of Kosovo-Metohija, said Loncar, and
added that now the US carries special responsibility
to finally abandon the project of creating the first
NATO state.
That is an essential precondition for finding a
solution based on compromise through new negotiations
which could satisfy the interests of both Serbs and
ethnic Albanians in the province, concluded the
Minister of Education.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?
yyyy=2007&mm=08&dd=14&nav_category=90&nav_id=43014
B92, Beta (Serbia) - August 14, 2007
"NATO wants Kosovo as puppet state"
BELGRADE - A minister in Koštunica's cabinet and
member of his DSS says NATO means to turn Kosovo into
a state of its own.
Education Minister Zoran Lonèar's statement, reported
by Beta Tuesday, is the third in the past several days
sharply criticizing the alliance, coming from prime
minister Vojislav Koštunica's Democratic Party of
Serbia (DSS).
Most notably, Interior Minister Dragan Joèiæ said
Sunday that "a project to create a NATO state was the
greatest obstacle to a Kosovo settlement."
However, Lonèar reached for stronger language and said
that NATO had used the opportunity created by
"problems with the ethnic Albanian population in
Kosovo" to "try and create its first military puppet
state.”
Lonèar told the agency that NATO first bombed Serbia,
brought its troops to Kosovo, and is now trying to set
up a state of its own under the provisions of UN
Kosovo Envoy Martti Ahtisaari's status plan.
“Annex 11 of the Ahtisaari plan grants NATO direct
authority and gives it limitless power in a reputedly
independent state,” he said.
The minister added that “the entire international
community knows full well that Serbia will never allow
NATO to create a quasi-state on its territory.”
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/15/europe/EU-GEN-Serbia-US-
Kosovo.php
Associated Press - August 15, 2007
Serbia accuses US of wanting to create 'satellite state' out of Kosovo
BELGRADE, Serbia - Serbia stepped up an anti-U.S.
campaign Wednesday, accusing it of wanting to create a
"satellite state" out of the breakaway province of
Kosovo.
"Now that we are starting new negotiations on Kosovo,
it is crucial that NATO and the United States give up
their project of creating a satellite state" in the
southern Serbian province, said Slobodan Samardzic,
Serbia's government minister for Kosovo.
His statement to local media was the latest in a
series of accusations against the U.S. for its support
of independence for Kosovo where ethnic Albanians
comprise 90 percent of the province's two million
people.
Samardzic was joined Wednesday by the head of the
influential Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo who said
Serbia should never give up the province at any price,
even if it takes "2,000 years" of isolation.
"They (the West) are offering us membership in the
European Union," Bishop Artemije said.
Kosovo, considered by many Serbs as the cradle of
their statehood and religion, is only formally a part
of Serbia. The province has been run by the United
Nations and NATO since 1999, when NATO launched an air
war to stop Serbia's government onslaught on Albanian
separatists.
Last week, envoys from United States, the European
Union and Russia launched a 120-day effort to end the
impasse over Kosovo.
The new effort follows Russia's threat to block a
Western-backed plan to grant Kosovo internationally
supervised independence in the U.N. Security Council.
The diplomats are to report back to U.N. Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon by Dec. 10.
Samardzic, the Serbian Kosovo minister, said that the
Kosovo state created with the U.S. support "would only
serve the interests of America and the local (Kosovo)
mafia clans."
The latest government-sponsored anti-U.S. campaign is
apparently intended to further foster Russia's
opposition to Kosovo's independence, having in mind
Russia's opposition to U.S. policies on several
fronts.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1580306920070815
Reuters - August 15, 2007
Serbs say West wants Kosovo as a "NATO state"
BELGRADE - Serbs campaigning against independence for
the breakaway province of Kosovo have accused the West
of seeking a "NATO state" in the Balkans.
A number of politicians say NATO allies are determined
to carve out the new state from Serbian territory by
backing the independence demands of Kosovo's 90
percent Albanian majority.
To block an independence resolution on Kosovo at the
United Nations, Serbia has enlisted the help of
veto-holder Russia and President Vladimir Putin,
frequently opposed to NATO goals.
Russia on Wednesday accused the West of pursuing
Kosovo independence under threat of Albanian "violence
and anarchy".
In an article, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said
Moscow's Western partners were "inclined to give in to
blackmail."
Serbia's tilt towards Moscow has some Serb
commentators wondering if the government is seriously
preparing to abandon its pro-Western goals and
policies if Kosovo is lost.
The "NATO state" idea has cropped up in various
comments over the past week. It appeared to originate
with Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, whose
coalition government aspires to NATO membership.
Kostunica has also threatened to curtail relations
with any country which may eventually decide to
recognize Kosovo as independent - the major NATO
powers among others.
And a newspaper close to the government has suggested
that Serbia would also end its bid for European Union
membership.
According to the Minister for Kosovo, Slobodan
Samardzic, NATO plans to make Kosovo virtually its own
territory and a Kostunica spokesman said the U.S.
military base, Camp Bondsteel, would be its capital.
Samardzic told the official news agency Tanjug on
Wednesday that NATO wants Kosovo as a base to "serve
its geopolitical and strategic goals as well as mafia
clans".
He urged Washington to give up "the project of
creating a satellite, army barracks, state on foreign
territory" as Serbs and Kosovo Albanians begin a new
and probably final round of talks seeking compromise
over the province's future.
In a comment likely to anger the Western alliance, the
minister said the real goal of NATO's 1999 air war was
"the creation of the NATO state that would be
independent Kosovo".
....
http://www.srbija.sr.gov.yu/vesti/vest.php?id=37439
Government of Serbia - August 15, 2007
NATO, US should abandon project of creating satellite state
Belgrade – Serbian Minister for Kosovo-Metohija
Slobodan Samardzic called upon the US to give up the
project of creating a NATO state in the form of an
independent Kosovo-Metohija, as new negotiations on
the future status of the province are expected to
begin.
In a statement to the news agency Beta, Samardzic said
that now when new negotiations are to begin, it is of
key importance that NATO and the US abandon the
project of creating a satellite state in
Kosovo-Metohija.
The Minister stressed that this project has nothing to
do with the economic recovery of Kosovo-Metohija and
reconciliation of Serbs and ethnic Albanians, and
least of all with the European future of this part of
Europe.
According to Samardzic, such a state would serve only
the geopolitical and strategic military goals of the
US, as well as the purposes of the local mafia groups
in Kosovo-Metohija, and will make it impossible for
people in the province to have a peaceful and
prosperous future.
Due to these reasons, Serbia rejected the plan
presented by Martti Ahtisaari, which in annex 11
proposes establishing a permanent NATO presence in
Kosovo-Metohija, stressed Samardzic.
He recalled that during the previous eight years the
international community had the opportunity to verify
the real goal of NATO military action against Serbia,
which is the creation of a NATO state through
independence for Kosovo-Metohija.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/16/content_6539052.htm
Xinhua News Agency - August 16, 2007
Serbia accuses NATO of establishing barrack-style
state in Kosovo
TIRANA - Serbia on Wednesday accused NATO and the
United States of trying to set up a barrack-style
satellite state in its southern breakaway province of
Kosovo, news reaching here from Belgrade reported.
"NATO and the United States should give up the project
to create a satellite barrack-state in a foreign land
at a moment when we are opening new negotiations on
the future status of Kosovo," Slobodan Samardzic,
Serbia's minister for Kosovo, said in a statement.
Samardzic said that kind of Kosovo state would only
serve the interests of NATO and the United States,
safeguard the gains of the mafia clans in the
province, and permanently prevent a peaceful and
prosperous future for the local people.
"The project has nothing to do with either the
economic recovery of Kosovo or the reconciliation
between Serbs and Albanians, and least of all with for
this part to be integrated into Europe in the future,"
Tanjug, Serbia's official news agency, quoted him as
saying.
Kosovo has been run by the UN and NATO since 1999 when
NATO launched air strikes to stop Serbia from
attacking Albanian separatists. Ethnic Albanians, who
make up 90 percent of the province's 2 million
population, are demanding independence while the
Serbians and Serbs in Kosovo want it to remain within
Serbia.
In March, the UN special envoy Martin Ahtisaari
submitted a draft plan, which envisions
internationally supervised independence for Kosovo, to
the Security Council concerning the Kosovo issue.
The plan, supported by the United States and many
western countries, were robustly opposed by Serbia and
its ally Russia which wields a powerful veto in the UN
Security Council.
Last week, envoys from the EU, the United States and
Russia, the so-called Kosovo-troika, made a 120-day
effort to break the impasse over Kosovo. They planned
to launch a new negotiation over the issue in Vienna
at the end of this August.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?
yyyy=2007&mm=08&dd=16&nav_category=90&nav_id=43067
B92, Beta (Serbia) - August 16, 2007
DSS continues war of words against NATO
BELGRADE - Interior Minister Dragan Joèiæ has today
again accused NATO of intending to turn Kosovo into
"it’s own puppet state".
He added that the Alliance could "no longer cover up"
this intention.
The statement is the second of the kind in the past
four days.
Joèiæ told Beta that "NATO can no longer cover up its
real intention of turning Kosovo into its own
militarized puppet state."
"The Ahtisaari plan, in which it is clearly defined
that NATO will have unlimited power in an allegedly
independent Kosovo, has been drawn up in order to
register and enshrine our province’s territory within
the property of the NATO pact.“
The minister said that the bombing of Serbia in 1999
"is fully explained by the Ahtisaari plan, that is to
say, the creation of the first NATO state.“
Joèiæ went on to say that, "If the U.S. intends to
build normal relations with Serbia – and it should –
then it must stop this dangerous experiment, which
began with the illegal, and above all, merciless
destruction of our country.“
Joèiæ is considered to be the one of most influential
figures in the party led by Prime Minister Vojislav
Koštunica. His party and cabinet colleagues have
joined him last week in sharp criticism of the
Alliance's role in the Kosovo status crisis.
The partners of the DSS in the current ruling
coalition, President Boris Tadiæ's Democratic Party
(DS), have so far remained silent on the issue,
refusing to comment the controversial statements.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?
yyyy=2007&mm=08&dd=17&nav_category=90&nav_id=43088
B92, Beta (Serbia) - August 17, 2007
Koštunica adviser: Time to return to Kosovo
BELGRADE, GNJILANE - An adviser to the prime minister
says the time has come for a number of Serbian troops
to return to Kosovo.
Aleksandar Simiæ told reporters Friday that UN
Resolution 1244, which guarantees Serbia's
sovereignty, also provides for the possibility of
redeployment of a number of Serbian police and
soldiers to the province.
"We believe the time is right for this," he said,
echoing a statement made Wednesday by one of the
Kosovo Serb leaders, Marko Jakšiæ.
According to Simiæ, "the Albanian separatist leaders
in Kosovo have demonstrated they do not in fact wish
to negotiate" in the coming renewed status talks
between Belgrade and Priština.
"This is yet further evidence that the only force that
can make the Kosovo Albanians negotiate is the United
States. If that country were to give up its bid to
create a NATO state in the Balkans, real negotiations
would be possible, producing a compromise, sorely
needed for the Balkan and European stability," Simiæ
said.
Asked whether repeated claims made by state officials
from Koštunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS),
accusing NATO of a conspiracy to set up its own state
in the region, meant that Serbia had given up on its
previous policy of becoming a NATO member, he said the
government "did not discuss this issue."
....
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n119629
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - August 17, 2007
Serbia wants army, police back in Kosovo
Belgrade - Serbia wants to send soldiers and policemen
back to Kosovo, a top official said Friday, amid
increased tensions over the future status of the
UN-administered province, cited by AFP.
"We believe the time has come for that," Aleksandar
Simic, an adviser of Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav
Kostunica, told the Beta news agency.
The UN Security Council resolution which ended the
Kosovo conflict between Serbian forces and ethnic
Albanian separatists, included an option that up to
1,000 Serbian policemen and soldiers could be sent
back to the province to guard cultural and religious
sites.
The option has never been taken up amid fears that it
would exacerbate tensions.
In June 1999, Serbian armed forces were driven out of
the province following a NATO bombing campaign....
While technically remaining a Serbian province, Kosovo
has been run by a UN mission ever since, with some
16,000 NATO-led peacekeepers deployed there.
Under the recent proposals of UN envoy Martti
Ahtisaari - rejected by both Serbia and Russia, but
supported by the United States - Kosovo would be
granted supervised independence.
Simic joined a number of Serbian ministers in accusing
the United States of influence peddling in the region.
"If they (the US) gave up a creation of a NATO state
in the Balkans, real negotiations would be possible"
on Kosovo's future status, Simic said.
The international troika of the United States, the
European Union and Russia has launched a new round of
negotiations on Kosovo following Moscow's rejection of
the Ahtisaari plan.
The talks are expected to resume on August 30 in
Vienna.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who comprise 90 percent of
the 1.8 million population, want nothing but
independence, while Belgrade balks at anything more
than a high degree of autonomy.
http://www.srbija.sr.gov.yu/vesti/vest.php?id=37452
Government of Serbia - August 17, 2007
High time a number of Serbian soldiers, police
returned to Kosovo-Metohija
Belgrade - Advisor to Serbian Prime Minister
Aleksandar Simic stated today that, in line with UN
Security Council Resolution 1244, it is high time that
a number of Serbian soldiers and police officers
returned to Kosovo-Metohija.
In a statement to the Beta news agency, Simic said
that according to Resolution 1244, which guarantees
Serbia's sovereignty, the UN and NATO are under
obligation to enable the return of the Serbian police
and army to the province's territory.
According to Simic, statements of Albanian
separatists' leaders from Kosovo-Metohija following
the meeting with the Contact Group's troika of envoys,
point to the fact that they do not want any
negotiations and that the upcoming period, that is,
until December 10, will be "a mere waste of time".
It is further proof that the US is the only force
which can make Kosovo Albanians negotiate, stressed
Simic and added that if the USA gave up on creating a
NATO state in the Balkans, actual negotiations would
be possible and the compromise, so indispensable for
Balkan and overall European stability, could actually
be expected.
He added that only by following the decisions of the
Security Council to the letter can the respect of the
UN Charter and international law be guaranteed and
"dangerous and monstrous quasi-state-like creations in
the heart of Serbia and the Balkans" rendered
impossible.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/17/europe/EU-GEN-Serbia-Kosovo-
Security.php
Associated Press - August 17, 2007
Serbia urges return of its military and police to Kosovo
BELGRADE, Serbia - Serbia urged the return of its army
and police to Kosovo, an official said Friday, a move
that could increase ethnic tensions in the breakaway
province.
"The time has come for the return" of some 1,000
Serbian security personnel to the province, said
Aleksandar Simic, a spokesman for Prime Minister
Vojislav Kostunica. In Kosovo, 90 percent of the 2
million people are ethnic Albanians.
The U.N. administration in Kosovo refused to comment
before it gets a formal request from the Serb
government for the troops' return.
Under a U.N. Security Council resolution passed in
1999 when NATO troops chased out Serbian security
forces from Kosovo after their crackdown against
Kosovo Albanian separatists, Serbia was granted the
return of up to 1,000 police and army troops to the
province's borders and to guard Serbian churches and
monasteries there.
But NATO and U.N. peacekeepers in Kosovo have not
allowed the redeployment....
Kosovo, considered by many Serbs as the cradle of
their statehood and religion, is only formally a part
of Serbia. The province has been run by the United
Nations and NATO since 1999, when NATO launched an air
war to halt Serbia's government onslaught on Albanian
separatists.
Last week, envoys from the United States, the European
Union and Russia launched a 120-day effort to end the
impasse over Kosovo. A new round of talks has been set
for Aug. 30 in Vienna, Austria.
Simic said that the return of the Serbian troops to
Kosovo is a "precondition" for a possible deal with
ethnic Albanians.
The new negotiation effort follows Russia's threat to
block a U.S.-backed plan to grant Kosovo
internationally supervised independence in the U.N.
Security Council. The diplomats are to report back to
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon by Dec. 10.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n119726
Tanjug (Serbia) - August 18, 2007
Serbia urges NATO to stop supporting UN envoy's Kosovo plan
Belgrade - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's
media Advisor Srdjan Djuric said Saturday that NATO
must give up its support to UN Envoy Martti
Ahtisaari's settlement plan for Kosovo and that
assurances by NATO spokesman that the alliance is not
trying to create its own state in Kosovo-Metohija are
nor worth anything to Serbia.
As long as NATO continues to support Ahtisaari's plan
and particularly its Annex 11, it is clear that it is
trying to create the first NATO state, Djuric told the
press.
NATO has not yet said that it would respect the
inviolability of Serbia's internationally recognized
borders and that it will respect Serbia's sovereignty
and territorial integrity, he said.
NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said Friday quoted by
Belgrade electronic media that NATO is not doing
anything in secret or behind Serbia's back.
....
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20070817%
5cACQDJON200708171320DOWJONESDJONLINE000592.htm&
Associated Press - August 17, 2007
NATO Rejects Serbia Bid To Return Its Army, Police To Kosovo
BELGRADE - NATO on Friday rejected Serbia's request to
return its army and police to Kosovo, a redeployment
that could increase ethnic tensions in the breakaway
province.
"The time has come for the return" of some 1,000
Serbian security personnel to the province, said
Aleksandar Simic, a spokesman for Prime Minister
Vojislav Kostunica. In Kosovo, 90% of the 2 million
people are ethnic Albanians.
"Serbian forces will not be authorized to return,"
said Michael Knop, a spokesman for the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization-led peacekeepers in Kosovo. He
said the international force is "responsible for
security in Kosovo and there is no intention to
authorize such a decision."
....
Under a U.N. Security Council resolution passed in
1999 when NATO troops chased out Serbian security
forces from Kosovo after their crackdown against
Kosovo Albanian separatists, Serbia was granted the
return of up to 1,000 police and army troops to the
province's borders and to guard Serbian churches and
monasteries there.
But NATO and U.N. peacekeepers in Kosovo have not
allowed the redeployment, fearing it could irritate
Kosovo Albanians and re-ignite violence and ethnic
tensions in the tense region.
Kosovo, considered by many Serbs as the cradle of
their statehood and religion, is only formally a part
of Serbia. The province has been run by the U.N. and
NATO since 1999, when NATO launched an air war to halt
Serbia's government onslaught on Albanian separatists.
Last week, envoys from the U.S., the European Union
and Russia launched a 120-day effort to end the
impasse over Kosovo. A new round of talks has been set
for Aug. 30 in Vienna, Austria.
Simic said that the return of the Serbian troops to
Kosovo is a "precondition" for a possible deal with
ethnic Albanians.
The new negotiation effort follows Russia's threat to
block a U.S.-backed plan to grant Kosovo
internationally supervised independence in the U.N.
Security Council. The diplomats are to report back to
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon by Dec. 10.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?
yyyy=2007&mm=08&dd=19&nav_category=90&nav_id=43124
FoNet (Serbia) - August 19, 2007
"Forces could return immediately"
BELGRADE - Serbian forces could immediately return to
Kosovo to secure religious sites and clear minefields,
a government official says.
Dušan Prorokoviæ (DSS), a secretary with the Ministry
for Kosovo, said Sunday there was nothing wrong with
the request to allow the return of Serbian security
personnel to some parts of Kosovo, "for it is in line
with the UN resolution 1244".
According to him, “if KFOR is unable to fulfil its
mandate, protect non-Albanian residents in the
province and stop ethnic cleansing and violence, our
security forces should be entrusted with the task.”
He said that the talk about the possibility of
partioning Kosovo was an attempt to plant an idea that
was not Belgrade's and added that it “represents an
exit strategy for some of Albanian politicians who
realized their insistence on certain things produced
no results.”
“Even if we were to consider partition, we will be
introducing into negotiations a new category that
disrupts the international legal order and involves
alteration of a sovereign state’s borders.”
Prorokoviæ said that the partition of the province,
along with any sort of independence, would
additionally weaken the region and push the Balkans
into long-term instability, which would suit no one.
Both Belgrade and Priština have rejected the
possibility of partition. UNMIK has also denied it
would allow any Serbian police and army to redeploy in
the province.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?
yyyy=2007&mm=08&dd=19&nav_category=90&nav_id=43122
B92, Beta (Serbia) - August 19, 2007
Koštunica's ministers contunue anti-NATO rhetoric
BELGRADE - The latest of DSS cabinet ministers to
verbally take on NATO is Aleksandar Popoviæ, in charge
of energy.
The minister joined his Democratic Party of Serbia
(DSS) colleagues in claims that the Alliance's alleged
desire to set up its "military state" in Kosovo was
what stood in the way of a compromise between Belgrade
and Priština over the province's future status.
"There is no state in the world, and this is
especially true of those belonging to NATO, where
armed forces are not placed under strict civilian
control" Popoviæ told Beta Sunday.
He added that, conversely, the Ahtisaari status plan
envisaged "an allegedly independent Kosovo where NATO
had unlimited authority with no civilian supervision
whatsoever".
Popoviæ's statement comes a day after the first
official reaction from the DSS coalition partners,
President Boris Tadiæ's Democrats (DS), to what has
become a flood of public statements severely critical
of NATO.
However, the cabinet ministers from the DS ranks
remain quiet on the issue. Instead, their
parliamentary caucus chief Nada Kolundžija said
Saturday the anti-NATO rhetoric was "damaging".
Meanwhile, the Alliance has denied that its
involvement in Kosovo went beyond the peacekeeping
role and stressed it wished to develop good relations
with Serbia, a Partnership for Peace member country.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?
yyyy=2007&mm=08&dd=25&nav_category=90&nav_id=43260
Beta (Serbia) - August 25, 2007
Koštunica: U.S. must abandon Ahtisaari plan
BELGRADE - Continued U.S. insistence on the Ahtisaari
plan ahead of the new Kosovo talks is not good, the
prime minister says.
“It is certainly wrong that the plan in question
provides NATO with a role a military organization has
never had before in the world,” he told Beta news
agency Saturday.
According to him, Serbia is ready to take on its share
of responsibility and make an adequate contribution to
finding a compromise solution.
Koštunica stressed that such a solution could be
reached only if the United States abandons the status
plan drawn up by UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari and
adhere to the UN charter and fundamental principles of
international law.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?
yyyy=2007&mm=09&dd=02&nav_category=90&nav_id=43465
Beta News Agency (Serbia) - September 2, 2007
DSS: Unilateral declaration of independence possibility
BELGRADE - The Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) warned
Friday that Kosovo might declare independence on
December 11.
"Albanian separatists, backed by the United States and
NATO, could proclaim unilateral independence. The U.S.
would soon after recognize this first NATO state,"
Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica's party said in a
statement Sunday.
The DSS added it was "deliberating adequate answers to
this dangerous scenario".
"One of the possible answers that needs to be talked
about is for the parliament to make a decision that
our country cannot become a NATO member," the
statement said.
"It is time to start discussions about the manner in
which we, as a state, will react to the possibility of
unilateral independence and the first NATO state."
The Contact Group's mediating Troika is scheduled to
submit a report about the ongoing Kosovo talks to the
UN secretary general on December 10.
===========================
SOURCE : Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato
===========================
Serbia: NATO wants Kosovo as puppet state
--- ITALIANO ---
KOSOVO: NUOVE ACCUSE SERBE CONTRO IPOTESI PROTETTORATO NATO
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 20 AGO - Continua il botta e risposta tra settori
del governo serbo e Nato sul destino del Kosovo, la provincia
secessionista a maggioranza albanese che - accusano esponenti di
Belgrado - l'Alleanza Atlantica vorrebbe staccare definitivamente
dalla Serbia per farne un proprio protettorato. L'ultimo a rilanciare
la palla e' stato in queste ore Srdjan Djuric, capo ufficio stampa
del primo ministro serbo Vojislav Kostunica, secondo cui appare
improprio che un'alleanza militare esprima pareri sul futuro status
della provincia contesa. E avalli proposte come quella dell'ex
presidente finlandese Martti Ahtisaari - favorevole a una
''indipendenza sorvegliata'' del Kosovo - che di fatto
trasformerebbero la regione in ''uno Stato di proprieta' della
Nato''. Interpretazioni respinte da Bruxelles, dove si sostiene che
l'Alleanza ''non intende possedere alcuno Stato'', ne' architettare
nulla ''alle spalle della Serbia'', ma solo ''garantire condizioni di
sicurezza'' durante l'estrema fase negoziale promossa fra le parti
dalla nuova troika di mediatori euro-russo-americana creata dal
Gruppo di Contatto. E tuttavia interpretazioni che continuano a
circolare a Belgrado, almeno negli ambienti del Partito Democratico
di Serbia (Dss, conservatore) di Kostunica: la forza piu' oltranzista
in seno all'attuale esecutivo serbo di coalizione democratica nella
battaglia contro il riconoscimento d'ogni ipotesi di indipendenza del
Kosovo, e il piu' incline a immaginare un vero e proprio asse con
Mosca su questo punto, anche a costo di mettere in imbarazzo i
partner liberali di governo e di virare bruscamente dalla rotta euro-
atlantica avviata nel dopo-Milosevic. Tra i piu' polemici si segnala
il giovane ministro dell'Energia, Aleksandar Popovic, fedelissimo di
Kostunica con un passato di studi universitari in Russia, che in
un'intervista ripresa oggi dalla newsletter Vip ha avuto a sua volta
parole di fuoco contro Washington e Bruxelles, accusate entrambe di
non spingere per ''un compromesso accettabile'' perche' bramose di
creare ''uno staterello Nato'' sul territorio del Kosovo. Una realta'
in cui - a giudizio di Popovic - la unita' militari internazionali
sotto controllo Nato ''avrebbero poteri illimitati, non sottoposti ad
alcuna vera autorita' civile: cosa che non avviene in nessuno Stato
democratico, e meno che mai nei Paesi occidentali fondatori della
Nato''. (ANSA). LR
20/08/2007 15:49
--- ENGLISH ---
http://www.srbija.sr.gov.yu/vesti/vest.php?id=37422
Government of Serbia - August 14, 2007
Serbia will never accept NATO colony in Kosovo-Metohija
Belgrade – Serbian Minister of Education Zoran Loncar
said today that the entire international community
knows that Serbia will never accept that NATO makes a
quasi-state or military colony on its territory.
In a statement to the news agency Tanjug, Loncar said
that the issue of the Albanian minority in
Kosovo-Metohija provided NATO a chance to try and
establish its first puppet military state.
NATO took military action against Serbia, then sent
its troops to Kosovo-Metohija and now, through the
plan proposed by Martti Ahtisaari for determining the
future status of Kosovo-Metohija, it is attempting to
create its first military state, said the Minister.
Annex 11 of Ahtisaari’s plan directly proposes that
NATO must have unlimited authority in the allegedly
independent state of Kosovo-Metohija, said Loncar, and
added that now the US carries special responsibility
to finally abandon the project of creating the first
NATO state.
That is an essential precondition for finding a
solution based on compromise through new negotiations
which could satisfy the interests of both Serbs and
ethnic Albanians in the province, concluded the
Minister of Education.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?
yyyy=2007&mm=08&dd=14&nav_category=90&nav_id=43014
B92, Beta (Serbia) - August 14, 2007
"NATO wants Kosovo as puppet state"
BELGRADE - A minister in Koštunica's cabinet and
member of his DSS says NATO means to turn Kosovo into
a state of its own.
Education Minister Zoran Lonèar's statement, reported
by Beta Tuesday, is the third in the past several days
sharply criticizing the alliance, coming from prime
minister Vojislav Koštunica's Democratic Party of
Serbia (DSS).
Most notably, Interior Minister Dragan Joèiæ said
Sunday that "a project to create a NATO state was the
greatest obstacle to a Kosovo settlement."
However, Lonèar reached for stronger language and said
that NATO had used the opportunity created by
"problems with the ethnic Albanian population in
Kosovo" to "try and create its first military puppet
state.”
Lonèar told the agency that NATO first bombed Serbia,
brought its troops to Kosovo, and is now trying to set
up a state of its own under the provisions of UN
Kosovo Envoy Martti Ahtisaari's status plan.
“Annex 11 of the Ahtisaari plan grants NATO direct
authority and gives it limitless power in a reputedly
independent state,” he said.
The minister added that “the entire international
community knows full well that Serbia will never allow
NATO to create a quasi-state on its territory.”
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/15/europe/EU-GEN-Serbia-US-
Kosovo.php
Associated Press - August 15, 2007
Serbia accuses US of wanting to create 'satellite state' out of Kosovo
BELGRADE, Serbia - Serbia stepped up an anti-U.S.
campaign Wednesday, accusing it of wanting to create a
"satellite state" out of the breakaway province of
Kosovo.
"Now that we are starting new negotiations on Kosovo,
it is crucial that NATO and the United States give up
their project of creating a satellite state" in the
southern Serbian province, said Slobodan Samardzic,
Serbia's government minister for Kosovo.
His statement to local media was the latest in a
series of accusations against the U.S. for its support
of independence for Kosovo where ethnic Albanians
comprise 90 percent of the province's two million
people.
Samardzic was joined Wednesday by the head of the
influential Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo who said
Serbia should never give up the province at any price,
even if it takes "2,000 years" of isolation.
"They (the West) are offering us membership in the
European Union," Bishop Artemije said.
Kosovo, considered by many Serbs as the cradle of
their statehood and religion, is only formally a part
of Serbia. The province has been run by the United
Nations and NATO since 1999, when NATO launched an air
war to stop Serbia's government onslaught on Albanian
separatists.
Last week, envoys from United States, the European
Union and Russia launched a 120-day effort to end the
impasse over Kosovo.
The new effort follows Russia's threat to block a
Western-backed plan to grant Kosovo internationally
supervised independence in the U.N. Security Council.
The diplomats are to report back to U.N. Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon by Dec. 10.
Samardzic, the Serbian Kosovo minister, said that the
Kosovo state created with the U.S. support "would only
serve the interests of America and the local (Kosovo)
mafia clans."
The latest government-sponsored anti-U.S. campaign is
apparently intended to further foster Russia's
opposition to Kosovo's independence, having in mind
Russia's opposition to U.S. policies on several
fronts.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1580306920070815
Reuters - August 15, 2007
Serbs say West wants Kosovo as a "NATO state"
BELGRADE - Serbs campaigning against independence for
the breakaway province of Kosovo have accused the West
of seeking a "NATO state" in the Balkans.
A number of politicians say NATO allies are determined
to carve out the new state from Serbian territory by
backing the independence demands of Kosovo's 90
percent Albanian majority.
To block an independence resolution on Kosovo at the
United Nations, Serbia has enlisted the help of
veto-holder Russia and President Vladimir Putin,
frequently opposed to NATO goals.
Russia on Wednesday accused the West of pursuing
Kosovo independence under threat of Albanian "violence
and anarchy".
In an article, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said
Moscow's Western partners were "inclined to give in to
blackmail."
Serbia's tilt towards Moscow has some Serb
commentators wondering if the government is seriously
preparing to abandon its pro-Western goals and
policies if Kosovo is lost.
The "NATO state" idea has cropped up in various
comments over the past week. It appeared to originate
with Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, whose
coalition government aspires to NATO membership.
Kostunica has also threatened to curtail relations
with any country which may eventually decide to
recognize Kosovo as independent - the major NATO
powers among others.
And a newspaper close to the government has suggested
that Serbia would also end its bid for European Union
membership.
According to the Minister for Kosovo, Slobodan
Samardzic, NATO plans to make Kosovo virtually its own
territory and a Kostunica spokesman said the U.S.
military base, Camp Bondsteel, would be its capital.
Samardzic told the official news agency Tanjug on
Wednesday that NATO wants Kosovo as a base to "serve
its geopolitical and strategic goals as well as mafia
clans".
He urged Washington to give up "the project of
creating a satellite, army barracks, state on foreign
territory" as Serbs and Kosovo Albanians begin a new
and probably final round of talks seeking compromise
over the province's future.
In a comment likely to anger the Western alliance, the
minister said the real goal of NATO's 1999 air war was
"the creation of the NATO state that would be
independent Kosovo".
....
http://www.srbija.sr.gov.yu/vesti/vest.php?id=37439
Government of Serbia - August 15, 2007
NATO, US should abandon project of creating satellite state
Belgrade – Serbian Minister for Kosovo-Metohija
Slobodan Samardzic called upon the US to give up the
project of creating a NATO state in the form of an
independent Kosovo-Metohija, as new negotiations on
the future status of the province are expected to
begin.
In a statement to the news agency Beta, Samardzic said
that now when new negotiations are to begin, it is of
key importance that NATO and the US abandon the
project of creating a satellite state in
Kosovo-Metohija.
The Minister stressed that this project has nothing to
do with the economic recovery of Kosovo-Metohija and
reconciliation of Serbs and ethnic Albanians, and
least of all with the European future of this part of
Europe.
According to Samardzic, such a state would serve only
the geopolitical and strategic military goals of the
US, as well as the purposes of the local mafia groups
in Kosovo-Metohija, and will make it impossible for
people in the province to have a peaceful and
prosperous future.
Due to these reasons, Serbia rejected the plan
presented by Martti Ahtisaari, which in annex 11
proposes establishing a permanent NATO presence in
Kosovo-Metohija, stressed Samardzic.
He recalled that during the previous eight years the
international community had the opportunity to verify
the real goal of NATO military action against Serbia,
which is the creation of a NATO state through
independence for Kosovo-Metohija.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/16/content_6539052.htm
Xinhua News Agency - August 16, 2007
Serbia accuses NATO of establishing barrack-style
state in Kosovo
TIRANA - Serbia on Wednesday accused NATO and the
United States of trying to set up a barrack-style
satellite state in its southern breakaway province of
Kosovo, news reaching here from Belgrade reported.
"NATO and the United States should give up the project
to create a satellite barrack-state in a foreign land
at a moment when we are opening new negotiations on
the future status of Kosovo," Slobodan Samardzic,
Serbia's minister for Kosovo, said in a statement.
Samardzic said that kind of Kosovo state would only
serve the interests of NATO and the United States,
safeguard the gains of the mafia clans in the
province, and permanently prevent a peaceful and
prosperous future for the local people.
"The project has nothing to do with either the
economic recovery of Kosovo or the reconciliation
between Serbs and Albanians, and least of all with for
this part to be integrated into Europe in the future,"
Tanjug, Serbia's official news agency, quoted him as
saying.
Kosovo has been run by the UN and NATO since 1999 when
NATO launched air strikes to stop Serbia from
attacking Albanian separatists. Ethnic Albanians, who
make up 90 percent of the province's 2 million
population, are demanding independence while the
Serbians and Serbs in Kosovo want it to remain within
Serbia.
In March, the UN special envoy Martin Ahtisaari
submitted a draft plan, which envisions
internationally supervised independence for Kosovo, to
the Security Council concerning the Kosovo issue.
The plan, supported by the United States and many
western countries, were robustly opposed by Serbia and
its ally Russia which wields a powerful veto in the UN
Security Council.
Last week, envoys from the EU, the United States and
Russia, the so-called Kosovo-troika, made a 120-day
effort to break the impasse over Kosovo. They planned
to launch a new negotiation over the issue in Vienna
at the end of this August.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?
yyyy=2007&mm=08&dd=16&nav_category=90&nav_id=43067
B92, Beta (Serbia) - August 16, 2007
DSS continues war of words against NATO
BELGRADE - Interior Minister Dragan Joèiæ has today
again accused NATO of intending to turn Kosovo into
"it’s own puppet state".
He added that the Alliance could "no longer cover up"
this intention.
The statement is the second of the kind in the past
four days.
Joèiæ told Beta that "NATO can no longer cover up its
real intention of turning Kosovo into its own
militarized puppet state."
"The Ahtisaari plan, in which it is clearly defined
that NATO will have unlimited power in an allegedly
independent Kosovo, has been drawn up in order to
register and enshrine our province’s territory within
the property of the NATO pact.“
The minister said that the bombing of Serbia in 1999
"is fully explained by the Ahtisaari plan, that is to
say, the creation of the first NATO state.“
Joèiæ went on to say that, "If the U.S. intends to
build normal relations with Serbia – and it should –
then it must stop this dangerous experiment, which
began with the illegal, and above all, merciless
destruction of our country.“
Joèiæ is considered to be the one of most influential
figures in the party led by Prime Minister Vojislav
Koštunica. His party and cabinet colleagues have
joined him last week in sharp criticism of the
Alliance's role in the Kosovo status crisis.
The partners of the DSS in the current ruling
coalition, President Boris Tadiæ's Democratic Party
(DS), have so far remained silent on the issue,
refusing to comment the controversial statements.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?
yyyy=2007&mm=08&dd=17&nav_category=90&nav_id=43088
B92, Beta (Serbia) - August 17, 2007
Koštunica adviser: Time to return to Kosovo
BELGRADE, GNJILANE - An adviser to the prime minister
says the time has come for a number of Serbian troops
to return to Kosovo.
Aleksandar Simiæ told reporters Friday that UN
Resolution 1244, which guarantees Serbia's
sovereignty, also provides for the possibility of
redeployment of a number of Serbian police and
soldiers to the province.
"We believe the time is right for this," he said,
echoing a statement made Wednesday by one of the
Kosovo Serb leaders, Marko Jakšiæ.
According to Simiæ, "the Albanian separatist leaders
in Kosovo have demonstrated they do not in fact wish
to negotiate" in the coming renewed status talks
between Belgrade and Priština.
"This is yet further evidence that the only force that
can make the Kosovo Albanians negotiate is the United
States. If that country were to give up its bid to
create a NATO state in the Balkans, real negotiations
would be possible, producing a compromise, sorely
needed for the Balkan and European stability," Simiæ
said.
Asked whether repeated claims made by state officials
from Koštunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS),
accusing NATO of a conspiracy to set up its own state
in the region, meant that Serbia had given up on its
previous policy of becoming a NATO member, he said the
government "did not discuss this issue."
....
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n119629
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - August 17, 2007
Serbia wants army, police back in Kosovo
Belgrade - Serbia wants to send soldiers and policemen
back to Kosovo, a top official said Friday, amid
increased tensions over the future status of the
UN-administered province, cited by AFP.
"We believe the time has come for that," Aleksandar
Simic, an adviser of Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav
Kostunica, told the Beta news agency.
The UN Security Council resolution which ended the
Kosovo conflict between Serbian forces and ethnic
Albanian separatists, included an option that up to
1,000 Serbian policemen and soldiers could be sent
back to the province to guard cultural and religious
sites.
The option has never been taken up amid fears that it
would exacerbate tensions.
In June 1999, Serbian armed forces were driven out of
the province following a NATO bombing campaign....
While technically remaining a Serbian province, Kosovo
has been run by a UN mission ever since, with some
16,000 NATO-led peacekeepers deployed there.
Under the recent proposals of UN envoy Martti
Ahtisaari - rejected by both Serbia and Russia, but
supported by the United States - Kosovo would be
granted supervised independence.
Simic joined a number of Serbian ministers in accusing
the United States of influence peddling in the region.
"If they (the US) gave up a creation of a NATO state
in the Balkans, real negotiations would be possible"
on Kosovo's future status, Simic said.
The international troika of the United States, the
European Union and Russia has launched a new round of
negotiations on Kosovo following Moscow's rejection of
the Ahtisaari plan.
The talks are expected to resume on August 30 in
Vienna.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who comprise 90 percent of
the 1.8 million population, want nothing but
independence, while Belgrade balks at anything more
than a high degree of autonomy.
http://www.srbija.sr.gov.yu/vesti/vest.php?id=37452
Government of Serbia - August 17, 2007
High time a number of Serbian soldiers, police
returned to Kosovo-Metohija
Belgrade - Advisor to Serbian Prime Minister
Aleksandar Simic stated today that, in line with UN
Security Council Resolution 1244, it is high time that
a number of Serbian soldiers and police officers
returned to Kosovo-Metohija.
In a statement to the Beta news agency, Simic said
that according to Resolution 1244, which guarantees
Serbia's sovereignty, the UN and NATO are under
obligation to enable the return of the Serbian police
and army to the province's territory.
According to Simic, statements of Albanian
separatists' leaders from Kosovo-Metohija following
the meeting with the Contact Group's troika of envoys,
point to the fact that they do not want any
negotiations and that the upcoming period, that is,
until December 10, will be "a mere waste of time".
It is further proof that the US is the only force
which can make Kosovo Albanians negotiate, stressed
Simic and added that if the USA gave up on creating a
NATO state in the Balkans, actual negotiations would
be possible and the compromise, so indispensable for
Balkan and overall European stability, could actually
be expected.
He added that only by following the decisions of the
Security Council to the letter can the respect of the
UN Charter and international law be guaranteed and
"dangerous and monstrous quasi-state-like creations in
the heart of Serbia and the Balkans" rendered
impossible.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/17/europe/EU-GEN-Serbia-Kosovo-
Security.php
Associated Press - August 17, 2007
Serbia urges return of its military and police to Kosovo
BELGRADE, Serbia - Serbia urged the return of its army
and police to Kosovo, an official said Friday, a move
that could increase ethnic tensions in the breakaway
province.
"The time has come for the return" of some 1,000
Serbian security personnel to the province, said
Aleksandar Simic, a spokesman for Prime Minister
Vojislav Kostunica. In Kosovo, 90 percent of the 2
million people are ethnic Albanians.
The U.N. administration in Kosovo refused to comment
before it gets a formal request from the Serb
government for the troops' return.
Under a U.N. Security Council resolution passed in
1999 when NATO troops chased out Serbian security
forces from Kosovo after their crackdown against
Kosovo Albanian separatists, Serbia was granted the
return of up to 1,000 police and army troops to the
province's borders and to guard Serbian churches and
monasteries there.
But NATO and U.N. peacekeepers in Kosovo have not
allowed the redeployment....
Kosovo, considered by many Serbs as the cradle of
their statehood and religion, is only formally a part
of Serbia. The province has been run by the United
Nations and NATO since 1999, when NATO launched an air
war to halt Serbia's government onslaught on Albanian
separatists.
Last week, envoys from the United States, the European
Union and Russia launched a 120-day effort to end the
impasse over Kosovo. A new round of talks has been set
for Aug. 30 in Vienna, Austria.
Simic said that the return of the Serbian troops to
Kosovo is a "precondition" for a possible deal with
ethnic Albanians.
The new negotiation effort follows Russia's threat to
block a U.S.-backed plan to grant Kosovo
internationally supervised independence in the U.N.
Security Council. The diplomats are to report back to
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon by Dec. 10.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n119726
Tanjug (Serbia) - August 18, 2007
Serbia urges NATO to stop supporting UN envoy's Kosovo plan
Belgrade - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's
media Advisor Srdjan Djuric said Saturday that NATO
must give up its support to UN Envoy Martti
Ahtisaari's settlement plan for Kosovo and that
assurances by NATO spokesman that the alliance is not
trying to create its own state in Kosovo-Metohija are
nor worth anything to Serbia.
As long as NATO continues to support Ahtisaari's plan
and particularly its Annex 11, it is clear that it is
trying to create the first NATO state, Djuric told the
press.
NATO has not yet said that it would respect the
inviolability of Serbia's internationally recognized
borders and that it will respect Serbia's sovereignty
and territorial integrity, he said.
NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said Friday quoted by
Belgrade electronic media that NATO is not doing
anything in secret or behind Serbia's back.
....
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20070817%
5cACQDJON200708171320DOWJONESDJONLINE000592.htm&
Associated Press - August 17, 2007
NATO Rejects Serbia Bid To Return Its Army, Police To Kosovo
BELGRADE - NATO on Friday rejected Serbia's request to
return its army and police to Kosovo, a redeployment
that could increase ethnic tensions in the breakaway
province.
"The time has come for the return" of some 1,000
Serbian security personnel to the province, said
Aleksandar Simic, a spokesman for Prime Minister
Vojislav Kostunica. In Kosovo, 90% of the 2 million
people are ethnic Albanians.
"Serbian forces will not be authorized to return,"
said Michael Knop, a spokesman for the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization-led peacekeepers in Kosovo. He
said the international force is "responsible for
security in Kosovo and there is no intention to
authorize such a decision."
....
Under a U.N. Security Council resolution passed in
1999 when NATO troops chased out Serbian security
forces from Kosovo after their crackdown against
Kosovo Albanian separatists, Serbia was granted the
return of up to 1,000 police and army troops to the
province's borders and to guard Serbian churches and
monasteries there.
But NATO and U.N. peacekeepers in Kosovo have not
allowed the redeployment, fearing it could irritate
Kosovo Albanians and re-ignite violence and ethnic
tensions in the tense region.
Kosovo, considered by many Serbs as the cradle of
their statehood and religion, is only formally a part
of Serbia. The province has been run by the U.N. and
NATO since 1999, when NATO launched an air war to halt
Serbia's government onslaught on Albanian separatists.
Last week, envoys from the U.S., the European Union
and Russia launched a 120-day effort to end the
impasse over Kosovo. A new round of talks has been set
for Aug. 30 in Vienna, Austria.
Simic said that the return of the Serbian troops to
Kosovo is a "precondition" for a possible deal with
ethnic Albanians.
The new negotiation effort follows Russia's threat to
block a U.S.-backed plan to grant Kosovo
internationally supervised independence in the U.N.
Security Council. The diplomats are to report back to
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon by Dec. 10.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?
yyyy=2007&mm=08&dd=19&nav_category=90&nav_id=43124
FoNet (Serbia) - August 19, 2007
"Forces could return immediately"
BELGRADE - Serbian forces could immediately return to
Kosovo to secure religious sites and clear minefields,
a government official says.
Dušan Prorokoviæ (DSS), a secretary with the Ministry
for Kosovo, said Sunday there was nothing wrong with
the request to allow the return of Serbian security
personnel to some parts of Kosovo, "for it is in line
with the UN resolution 1244".
According to him, “if KFOR is unable to fulfil its
mandate, protect non-Albanian residents in the
province and stop ethnic cleansing and violence, our
security forces should be entrusted with the task.”
He said that the talk about the possibility of
partioning Kosovo was an attempt to plant an idea that
was not Belgrade's and added that it “represents an
exit strategy for some of Albanian politicians who
realized their insistence on certain things produced
no results.”
“Even if we were to consider partition, we will be
introducing into negotiations a new category that
disrupts the international legal order and involves
alteration of a sovereign state’s borders.”
Prorokoviæ said that the partition of the province,
along with any sort of independence, would
additionally weaken the region and push the Balkans
into long-term instability, which would suit no one.
Both Belgrade and Priština have rejected the
possibility of partition. UNMIK has also denied it
would allow any Serbian police and army to redeploy in
the province.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?
yyyy=2007&mm=08&dd=19&nav_category=90&nav_id=43122
B92, Beta (Serbia) - August 19, 2007
Koštunica's ministers contunue anti-NATO rhetoric
BELGRADE - The latest of DSS cabinet ministers to
verbally take on NATO is Aleksandar Popoviæ, in charge
of energy.
The minister joined his Democratic Party of Serbia
(DSS) colleagues in claims that the Alliance's alleged
desire to set up its "military state" in Kosovo was
what stood in the way of a compromise between Belgrade
and Priština over the province's future status.
"There is no state in the world, and this is
especially true of those belonging to NATO, where
armed forces are not placed under strict civilian
control" Popoviæ told Beta Sunday.
He added that, conversely, the Ahtisaari status plan
envisaged "an allegedly independent Kosovo where NATO
had unlimited authority with no civilian supervision
whatsoever".
Popoviæ's statement comes a day after the first
official reaction from the DSS coalition partners,
President Boris Tadiæ's Democrats (DS), to what has
become a flood of public statements severely critical
of NATO.
However, the cabinet ministers from the DS ranks
remain quiet on the issue. Instead, their
parliamentary caucus chief Nada Kolundžija said
Saturday the anti-NATO rhetoric was "damaging".
Meanwhile, the Alliance has denied that its
involvement in Kosovo went beyond the peacekeeping
role and stressed it wished to develop good relations
with Serbia, a Partnership for Peace member country.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?
yyyy=2007&mm=08&dd=25&nav_category=90&nav_id=43260
Beta (Serbia) - August 25, 2007
Koštunica: U.S. must abandon Ahtisaari plan
BELGRADE - Continued U.S. insistence on the Ahtisaari
plan ahead of the new Kosovo talks is not good, the
prime minister says.
“It is certainly wrong that the plan in question
provides NATO with a role a military organization has
never had before in the world,” he told Beta news
agency Saturday.
According to him, Serbia is ready to take on its share
of responsibility and make an adequate contribution to
finding a compromise solution.
Koštunica stressed that such a solution could be
reached only if the United States abandons the status
plan drawn up by UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari and
adhere to the UN charter and fundamental principles of
international law.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?
yyyy=2007&mm=09&dd=02&nav_category=90&nav_id=43465
Beta News Agency (Serbia) - September 2, 2007
DSS: Unilateral declaration of independence possibility
BELGRADE - The Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) warned
Friday that Kosovo might declare independence on
December 11.
"Albanian separatists, backed by the United States and
NATO, could proclaim unilateral independence. The U.S.
would soon after recognize this first NATO state,"
Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica's party said in a
statement Sunday.
The DSS added it was "deliberating adequate answers to
this dangerous scenario".
"One of the possible answers that needs to be talked
about is for the parliament to make a decision that
our country cannot become a NATO member," the
statement said.
"It is time to start discussions about the manner in
which we, as a state, will react to the possibility of
unilateral independence and the first NATO state."
The Contact Group's mediating Troika is scheduled to
submit a report about the ongoing Kosovo talks to the
UN secretary general on December 10.
===========================
SOURCE : Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato
===========================