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FM: Kosovo in Sarajevo only with UNMIK

Less than a month before the EU-Western Balkans summit in Sarajevo, Serbian officials are saying that the only acceptable option is for Priština – i.e., Kosovo Albanian authorities – to be represented in line with Resolution 1244. The resolution was adopted by the UN Security Council to end the 1999 war, and Belgrade insists that it guarantees Serbia's territorial integrity. Kosovo's ethnic Albanians unilaterally declared independence in early 2008, which Belgrade dismissed as an illegal act of secession. The conference in the capital of Bosnia, which comes after a failed attempt earlier this year to bring all participants to the table in Slovenia, is meant to show that Brussels is keeping an eye on the Balkans, and to what degree the countries of the region are prepared to cooperate and engage in good neighborly relations, which is mentioned as a key to future EU integration. “We have a firm agreement with the organizers od the Sarajevo gathering concerning the format in which representatives of the temporary institutions of administration from Priština can take part. In other words, their participation, if they decide to go to Sarajevo, must be strictly in line with UN Resolution 1244, with UNMIK (UN mission in Kosovo) present, just as was the case in the gatherings held previously,” Jeremić said this Tuesday in Strasbourg. “That means they can under no circumstances be represented as a sovereign state. Our position on that issue is rock solid, and will not change – there will be no concessions,” the foreign minister concluded. Spain has been trying for months to come up with a formula that would be acceptable to all, and has announced that the meeting would be informal, in the so-called Gymnich format, also bringing Turkey, U.S. and Russia to the table. Source: FoNet, B92