The only possible long-term alternative of the status of the Serbian province of Kosovo can arise from negotiations in the given country, not from outside, Czech President Vaclav Klaus said after a meeting with his Serbian counterpart Boris Tadic on Monday.
Klaus said the solution should arise through an agreement that would not be in favor of either of the two parties involved.
He emphasized that negotiations are the basis for the situation to become stable in Kosovo.
"If an unilateral solution is opted for, its consequences will be very negative in the long run, both for Serbia and the whole region, and for whole Europe after all," Klaus told journalists.
Tadic stressed that Serbia disagreed with the independence of Kosovo.
"Serbia will not accept the independence of Kosovo," he said.
Serbia will use all legal means to prevent Kosovo from gaining independence, Tadic said, but adding that Serbia was seeking a compromise on the Kosovo issue.
Kosovo, formally still a Serbian province, has been under U.N. and NATO rule since 1999, and is demanding full independence, to which Serbia is strongly opposed.
UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari presented earlier this year a proposal recommending internationally supervised independence for Kosovo where 90 percent of its some 2 million people are ethnic Albanians.
After the proposal was rejected by Serbia and Russia, the United Nations asked the EU, Russia and the United States to seek a solution.
A new round of talks over the final status of the province started last month, mediated by troika envoys from the EU, the United States and Russia. They are to report the progress of the talks to the UN Secretary General by Dec. 10.
Serbia and Kosovo are due to hold their first direct negotiations on Sept. 28 on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
Source: Xinhua
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