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Topic: Kosovo (Read 494 times)

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Kosovo
« on: Feb 18^th, 2008, 8:23am »

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http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/18/europe/EU-GEN-Serbia-Kosovo.ph p

Serbia filed legal charges against Kosovo's leadership Monday for creating a "false state" and vowed to block the nascent nation's attempts to join the international community in a fierce response to the declaration of independence.

Serbian lawmakers were expected to meet later Monday to reject the Kosovo Albanian independence proclamation as "invalid" and "illegal."

The Interior Ministry said Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and Speaker Jakup Krasniqi had been charged with committing "a serious criminal act against the constitutional order and security of Serbia" following Sunday's declaration by Kosovo's Albanian-dominated parliament.

Serbia said it would seek to block Kosovo from gaining diplomatic recognition and membership in international organizations.

"The so-called Kosovo state will never be a member of the United Nations," Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said in an interview with the national television network. "Serbia will use all diplomatic means at its disposal to block Kosovo's recognition."

Jeremic said Serbia would rely on Russia to block Kosovo's membership to the United Nations, while Belgrade would block Kosovo's access to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe. Every member of the two organizations must agree to newcomers.

"As long as Serbia is a member (of the two organizations), the so-called Kosovo state will not be," he said.

It remains unclear whether the new nation will be able to join financial bodies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The measures announced Monday followed previous attempts to target Kosovo's leaders before the declaration of independence. Serbia had filed arrest warrants with Interpol for Thaci and other Kosovo Albanian leaders over war crimes allegations.

Thaci was briefly detained at the airport in Budapest, Hungary, in 2003 on the Interpol warrant. He was released after the U.N. administration in Kosovo intervened on his behalf.

The Albanian dominated region of 2 million people proclaimed independence despite the strong opposition from Belgrade and Serbia's ally Russia.

Several thousand university students marched through the center of Belgrade to oppose an independent Kosovo with banners reading "It (Kosovo) Will Be Ours."

No incidents were reported Monday, unlike Sunday when the declaration sparked angry protests in Belgrade and clashes with riot police that left about 50 people injured, hospital authorities said.

Kosovo, which was the heartland of Serbia's medieval state, has been run by the United Nations and NATO since 1999 when NATO bombing halted a Serb security force crackdown against separatists and ended Belgrade's rule there.

Its declaration of independence is expected to receive swift recognition from the United States and many European Union nations, including France, Great Britain and Germany.

Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said on Monday that "many" of the EU's 27 member countries will formally recognize the new nation. But Spain already has said it would not.

Other governments around the world also have been wary.

China and Indonesia refused to endorse Kosovo's independence declaration, underscoring their own unease about separatist movements in their countries.

On Sunday, consultations in the 15-member U.N. Security Council exposed deep divisions with Washington backing Kosovo's Albanians and Moscow supporting Serbia.

Jeremic said recognition of an "ethnically motivated secession" would set "a dangerous precedent" worldwide.

Serbia's president and prime minister on Sunday rejected Kosovo's independence declaration as invalid, vowing to retake the territory one day. Belgrade leaders also said Serbia would seek to keep control over the Serb-populated parts of Kosovo a move that would likely lead to a de-facto ethnic division.

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