Stability and peace in the Balkan region depends on the position of the United States and its commitment to or violation of a 1999 U.N. resolution on Kosovo's status, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said Friday.
"If the United States were to say it will remain committed to U.N. resolution 1244 and its key elements about Serbia's sovereignty over Kosovo and safeguarding minority rights in the province, a compromise solution -- that would satisfy both the key interests of Serbs and Kosovo Albanians -- would be possible," Kostunica said in a statement.
"One cannot build peace and stability in the Balkans by pursuing the policy of force, illegal violence and lawlessness," Kostunica said.
Kostunica's remarks came just two days after the collapse of talks over Kosovo's future status between Kosovo Albanian leaders and Serbian officials under the auspices of international troika of the United States, the European Union and Russia.
Although formally still part of Serbia, Kosovo has been run by the U.N. mission since mid-1999 when U.N. resolution 1244 put in place Kosovo's post-war governance.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders say they will declare unilateral independence early in 2008, counting on protection from NATO and prompt recognition by the United States and most EU countries.
Two years of negotiations between Serbian and separatist ethnic Albanian leaders ended earlier this week without any agreement on Kosovo's future status. The mediating troika of EU, U.S. and Russian envoys is to visit Belgrade and Pristina on Monday and then submit a report with recommendations to Ban Ki-moon, U.N. secretary-general, by Dec. 10.
Kostunica also called for further negotiations. "Only under such circumstances will we not see a puppet state (in Kosovo) and the fulfillment of U.S. military and security interests," Kostunica said.
Kostunica's nationalist allies in the Serbian leadership have repeatedly accused the United States of trying to create a NATO-controlled puppet state in what is now Kosovo.
"The responsibility is in America's hands and its choice is between justice and stability or lawlessness and long-term instability," Kostunica said.
He pledged that Serbia would do everything possible within the U.N. Security Council and in line with the U.N. Charter to reach a compromise solution and preserve stability and peace.
"That means there will be no discussion about establishing an EU mission in Kosovo instead of the U.N. administration. That would be in contravention of resolution 1244," Kostunica said.
Source: Xinhua
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