Kosovo Will not Accept Conditional Independence
14:45 2005-11-17
The president of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, stated
on Nov. 16 that the Serbian government's resolution on Kosovo
represented the political option that had led to the break up of the
former Yugoslavia and the fight for territory. "The issue of Kosovo is
primarily the issue of the political will of the citizens who live
there. After the NATO intervention in 1999 and the establishment of
international administration, Kosovo became an international issue and
problem, so the Serbian Legislature and government have no possibility
of influencing its future," Thaci said in an interview to BETA.
He expressed the conviction that Kosovo was prepared for the beginning
of talks "on ways for building the country, and will not accept
conditional independence," because such proposals resemble Belgrade's
formula "more than autonomy, less than independence."
Thaci said the ideas about conditional independence should be
dismissed, because they have no legitimacy or legality, and are in
contradiction to the political will of the citizens of Kosovo. He added
that such solutions would create more problems for Kosovo and the
region, while full independence would solve the problems and open
European prospects for Kosovo and the region.
He said "Pristina is prepared to secure more rights for the Serb
citizens of Kosovo than Belgrade" and that "their future can be more
secure in Pristina than it is now when they are being negatively
influenced and manipulated by the present authorities in Belgrade"
reports Beta.
I.L.
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