Serbian President Boris Tadic said Thursday that only the UN Security Council (UNSC) can make a "legitimate decision" on the future status of its southern breakaway province of Kosovo.
"Today, the negotiations take place under the auspices of the contact group, but a legitimate decision on the future status of Kosovo can be brought only by the Security Council of the United Nations," Tadic said. "Only a decision to be taken by this institution may be based on international law."
Speaking to world leaders attending the annual debate of the General Assembly, Tadic said Serbia is "ready for a compromise" in negotiations regarding the province's future.
"Yet we would like to point out that the legitimate interests of democratic Serbia and the specific needs of the threatened Serbian community in the province, as well as other communities that have fallen victim to expulsion ... must be respected," he added.
Citing official data from the UN High Commission for Refugees, Tadic said that to date only 7,100 of more than 200,000 Serbs who have left Kosovo since 1999 have returned.
"Persistent in our request that the territorial integrity of the Republic of Serbia be respected, we call for the attainment of a compromise solution through diplomatic, legal and peaceful means and not through war and violence," Tadic said.
He also warned of "unforeseeable consequences" that would follow "a one-sided recognition of Kosovo's independence."
"The international legal order would never be the same, while many separatist movements world over would use the newly- established precedent," he said.
"Many regions in the world would be destabilized in that way," Tadic added.
"We therefore call on the legitimate representatives of Kosovo Albanians to proceed to the resumed negotiations without prejudging the outcome, so that a compromise solution, acceptable to both parties, could be achieved, a solution that would lead to long-term Serbian/Albanian reconciliation," the Serbian president said.
The Serbian and Kosovo ethnic Albanian leaders are scheduled to have their first ever direct talks over the final status of Kosovo on Friday on the sidelines of the ongoing general debate of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Serbia has insisted that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia and therefore should remain within its border, while Kosovo, where ethnic Albanians account for 90 percent of its 2 million population, has repeatedly asked for complete independence.
Kosovo threatened to unilaterally declare independence if the extended 120-day talks come to nothing by Dec. 10 when the so- called Kosovo troika, composed of envoys for the EU, the United States and Russia, should report the result of the talks to the United Nations.
Serbia and its ally Russia which wields a veto power in the UN Security Council have expressed their opposition to setting a time- table for the talks and Kosovo's unilateral independence, while the United States and some major EU countries have said they support Kosovo's aspirations.
Source: Xinhua
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