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Serbian minister allowed to visit Kosovo Serb communities |
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07:46, February 26, 2008 |
Serbian Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardzic entered Kosovo to meet Serb communities Monday, eight days after the ethnic Albanian authorities unilaterally declared independence.
Samardzic was allowed to make the visit after he agreed to certain conditions laid down by the U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
Head of UNMIK Joachim Ruecker originally denied the Serbian minister entry to Kosovo. He then changed his mind after a phone conversation with Samardzic, during which Samardzic allegedly pledged to meet UNMIK conditions for the visit.
Ruecker said the Serbian minister had to meet him and make a public statement to distance himself from earlier nationalistic statements and to declare that the visit is about ensuring peace and calm among the Kosovan Serbs.
The two men indeed met. But the meeting did not turn out to be a happy one.
After the meeting outside Pristina, Ruecker said he was not completely satisfied with Samardzic's answers to his questions.
Ruecker said Samardzic gave unclear answers and that "the meeting did not end in agreement."
Samardzic had said the burning down of two border posts between Kosovo and Serbia last Tuesday by Serbs was "legitimate." He also blamed the United States for attacks by Serbs on Western embassies in Belgrade last Thursday.
Ruecker said the decision to allow Samardzic to visit Kosovo was coordinated with Kosovo institutions. But Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuqi branded the visit a provocation by Serbia, which rejects Kosovo's independence declaration.
Source: Xinhua
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