Feedback
Email this page
Print VersionKosovo Serb parliament to be formed on June 15th
09/06/2008
PRISTINA, Kosovo -- Kosovo Serbs announced Friday (June 6th) in Mitrovica the establishment of a parallel parliament at the state level in Kosovo, based on the results of the May 11th Serbian parliamentary and local elections. The interim Assembly of the Serbian People of Kosovo will convene on June 15th, the same day Kosovo's constitution goes into effect. Kosovo's government immediately denounced the move and insisted any parallel parliament would be illegal. The government called on UNMIK to declare it invalid.
The head of the International Civilian Office, Pieter Feith, described any such Serb parliament in Kosovo as "regrettable". He insisted that "the state of Kosovo must rule over its entire territory". UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker, meanwhile, said only that he would extend the mandate of mayors of Serb municipalities. Their six-month mandates expire on June 18th.
In an interview Friday with Reuters, Serbian Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardzic said Belgrade expects to enjoy extensive administrative powers relating to Kosovo's Serbs and has submitted a proposal to that effect to the UN. Under it, Serbia would have authority over "six areas that are key to Serbs' lives and their survival in Kosovo": police, customs, justice, border control, transport and telecoms, and protection of Serbia's cultural heritage. (Zeri, Koha Ditore, Express, Telegrafi, RTK - 07/06/08; Reuters - 06/06/08)
