US concerned over conflicting messages from Serbia regarding Kosovo

07/09/2007

Belgrade should clarify its intentions, the US State Department said on Thursday.

(Bloomberg, B92 - 07/09/07; AFP, VOA, RFE/RL, The New York Times, FT, B92 - 06/09/07)

"Certainly those are unfortunate remarks and they're not at all helpful," said US State Department spokesman Tom Casey. "More importantly though, we believe those statements don't represent the views of the government of Serbia." [US State Department]

Serbia should clarify its stance following conflicting remarks by government officials regarding Belgrade's possible response to an independence declaration by Kosovo, US State Department spokesman Tom Casey said on Thursday (September 6th).

Earlier in the day, Serbia's State Secretary for Kosovo, Dusan Prorokovic, warned that Belgrade could send troops to prevent the province from being recognised as an independent state.

However, his words appeared to be contradicted by an interview Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic gave to the British daily Financial Times, which was published the same day.

"We will not contribute to the destabilisation of the province by physical, military or security means," the foreign minister told the newspaper. "All legal, diplomatic and practical resources, short of security and defence resources, will be used in order to demonstrate that we don't accept a declaration of independence and that it's invalid."

Casey voiced doubt that Prorokovic's views reflect the actual position of the Serbian government.

"We believe, based on everything else that we've previously heard, that the foreign minister's position is the one that represents the views of his government," the AFP quoted Casey as saying. "But given that these are inflammatory remarks and they are unfortunate, it certainly is appropriate for us to go to the Serbian government and ask them for clarification just to verify the foreign minister's views are, in fact, the ones that are represented."

The redeployment of Serbian troops to Kosovo was only one of up to 16 possible measures Belgrade could take in response to an independence declaration by Kosovo, according to Prorokovic. Others included a trade embargo and sealing the province's boundaries with Serbia.

"We will block every kind of commercial activity, and every kind of route," the New York Times quoted him as saying.

Making threats is neither appropriate, nor will it facilitate a solution to the Kosovo status issue, Casey said, stressing that a return of violence would be a setback for the entire region.

"We want to see this issue resolved through diplomatic discussions, and I don't think there's anyone out there that is seriously thinking that a resort to violence or force would be a resolution," he said.

Prorokovic's threats came only weeks after the launch of new 120-day, internationally-sponsored talks between Belgrade and Pristina, which the UN wants to see completed by December 10th. After that, the six-nation Contact Group, comprised of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States, must report to the UN on the results of the negotiations.

With the two sides sticking to diametrically opposed positions, few see much chance of reaching an agreement.

The Kosovo Albanians, who account for 90% of the province's population of 2 million people, are seeking full independence from Serbia. Belgrade, however, insists that all it can agree to is broad autonomy.

The Kosovo Albanian leaders have said they will unilaterally declare independence after talks end in December.