Serbia seeks UN support for new talks on Kosovo

29/07/2010

Serbia submitted a draft resolution to the UN General Assembly calling for new talks between Belgrade and Pristina.

(B92, Blic - 29/07/10; Reuters, AFP, DPA, Canadian Press, VOA, Beta, B92, Radio Srbija, Blic, Xinhua - 28/07/10)

"Serbia … must have good relations with the powerful countries of the world," President Boris Tadic told parliament. [Getty Images]

Serbia submitted a draft resolution to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday (July 28th), denouncing Kosovo's independence and calling for the launch of new talks on the former Serbian province.

The move follows the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) advisory opinion of July 22nd, saying that Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence did not constitute a breach of international law.

The document, submitted by Serbia's UN mission on Wednesday, acknowledged the ICJ ruling, but noted that "unilateral secession cannot be an acceptable way of resolving territorial issues."

The draft resolution, which Serbia hopes the General Assembly will adopt this fall, calls on Belgrade and Pristina to seek "a mutually acceptable solution for all disputed issues through peaceful dialogue".

While it does not specifically mention Kosovo's status as a subject the proposed talks should address, observers believe that this is the goal of Belgrade's push for more negotiations.

Numerous senior Serbian officials, including President Boris Tadic, have said in recent days that the ICJ's opinion will not discourage them from continuing the battle to regain the former province.

Arguing that the ICJ, which is the UN's primary judicial body, did not answer the question of whether Kosovo had the right to secede, Wednesday's draft asks the General Assembly to adopt conclusions on The Hague-based court's opinion.

It calls for the inclusion of an item in the interim agenda of the Assembly's 66th session on "further activities following the passing of the advisory opinion of the ICJ on whether the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo is in line with international law".

Citing a statement by the Serbian foreign ministry, media reports noted that the draft resolution was filed with the UN following consultations with all permanent members of the Security Council and a number of other international factors.

But, Belgrade-based daily Blic suggested in a report Thursday (July 29th) that Germany and three of the five permanent members of the 15-nation body -- Britain, France and the United States -- were strongly opposed to the wording of the document.

In a bid to muster support for Serbia's new diplomatic offensive, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic flew to New York on Wednesday for further consultations ahead of a Security Council meeting on Kosovo, scheduled for next week. He is also due to address a forum of the Non-Aligned Movement and meet with the ambassadors of a number of UN member states.

Seeking to dissuade more recognitions of Kosovo's independence, the Serbian government has decided to send emissaries to the 55 nations believed to be close to making that move and has reportedly asked its ambassadors in another 40 capitals to focus on that task, as well. Thus far, Kosovo has been recognised by 69 countries, including the United States, 22 of the 27 EU member states, as well as all former Yugoslav republics, except Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Kosovo, meanwhile, plans to renew its campaign aimed at securing more recognitions of its independence, as part of its UN membership goal.

While there is indeed room for more Kosovo talks, the biggest problem is that there is a gap between Pristina and Belgrade's stances concerning the issues that the negotiations should address, experts say.

"The EU and the Kosovars hope that the negotiations will focus on technical issues guiding relations on the ground between the Serb minority and the Albanian majority," Martin Sletzinger, an associate of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, said in an interview with Belgrade-based Beta news agency. "For the Serbs, naturally, [they] should be on status and Serbia's relationship to Kosovo."