Moscow/Pristina - Russia is against the 'supervised
independence' plan proposed by United Nations envoy Martti Ahtisaari
for the breakaway Serbian republic of Kosovo, the senior Balkan
official at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexander Bozan-Charchenko,
said Thursday.
The plan was not suitable as a basis for the future of the now
almost entirely ethnic Albanian province, Bozan-Charchenko said in
Moscow, according to Interfax news agency.
'We have great doubts that this plan can be a good foundation for
the negotiation process if it contains elements that lead to the
sovereignty and independence of Kosovo,' Bozan-Charchenko said.
However, he added that his country did not intend to use its veto
power at the UN Security Council to block a solution.
The problem remained obtaining Serbian's approval for the UN plan:
the Serbian parliament overwhelmingly rejected it in a vote Wednesday
evening.
Speakers in parliament had stressed Russia's traditional role as
Serbia's protector.
The Russian official's comments came as NATO Secretary General
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said in the Kosovan capital Pristina earlier
Thursday that KFOR, the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo, would
not tolerate any form of violence in the province.
'If anyone thinks that by inciting violence they may achieve their
goal, they're wrong and KFOR will prove them wrong,' Scheffer said in
Kosovo's capital Pristina.
That applied equally to the Albanians, who wanted immediate
independence, as to the Serbian minority, who wanted to split off the
areas of the province in which they had a majority.
He met with UN administrator in Kosovo Joachim Ruecker to discuss
security issues in light of last Saturday's violent pro-independence
protests which ended in two deaths and numerous injuries.
Two men died from head wounds inflicted by rubber bullets fired by
police, while some 80 people, including nine officers, were injured
in the protests.
Ruecker reacted to claims of 'excessive force' used by police in
containing Saturday's fevered demonstrations by asking international
police commissioner Stephen Curtis to resign on Wednesday, replacing
him with Uwe Marquardt of Germany.
Kosovo Interior Minister Fatmir Rexhepi also resigned on Monday.
Serbian President Boris Tadic phoned Scheffer earlier this week to
request additional protection and safety measures for the minority
Serbian community in Kosovo.
Saturday's protest was called by the Vetevendosje (Self-
determination) movement, which strongly opposes additional
discussions of Kosovo's status between Belgrade and Pristina and
demands immediate independence for the province of 2 million, which
is mainly populated by Albanians.
Vetevendosje leader Albin Kurti was arrested after the protests
and given 30 days detention.
Belgrade and Pristina are due to hold three more rounds of talks
in Vienna in late February and March, before Ahtisaari's plan reaches
the UN Security Council.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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