New York - Serbian President Boris Tadic called Thursday for
a compromise solution to the sovereignty dispute over the Serb
province of Kosovo, warning that a unilateral declaration of
independence from Pristina would lead to great instability.
'We therefore call on the legitimate representatives of Kosovo
Albanians to proceed to the resumed negotiations without prejudicing
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,' Tadic said in an address to the UN
General Assembly.
'The international legal order would never be the same' if
Pristina were to declare independence, as it rumoured to plan to do
on December 11, Tadic said.
He said separatist movements elsewhere would used the precedent in
Kosovo and many regions in the world would be destabilized.
Serbia, backed by Russia, is opposed to an independent Kosovo, but
has proposed autonomy in the territory now administered by the UN and
protected by NATO and the European Union.
The six-nation contact group on Kosovo plans to meet later
Thursday in New York to discuss the process of meeting demands from
both Kosovo, which demands independence, and Serbia, which opposes
it.
United Nations diplomats said the meeting at UN headquarters will
involve high-ranking government officials of the contact group,
composed of the US, Russia, Germany, Britain, Italy and France.
On Friday, direct talks between envoys from Belgrade and Pristina
are planned for the first time in New York to be hosted by the
Liaison Office of the General Secretariat of the Council of the
European Union to the UN.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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