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Belgrade’s statements on the use of force in Kosovo are a reaction to Pristina’s move – Russian Foreign Ministry envoy
The aggressive statements from Belgrade and Pristina regarding the future status of Kosovo do not contribute to constructive talks between the parties, Russian Foreign Ministry's Special Envoy to the Balkans Aleksander Botsan-Kharchenko said in an interview with Interfax.
"The aggressive statements from both sides have been heard before and they continue today. Certainly, they do not help make the talks constructive," Botsan-Kharchenko said.
He was commenting on a recent statement by Serbian State Secretary for Kosovo-Metohija Dusan Prorokovic that Serbia is ready to use force to prevent western countries from recognizing the independence of the Kosovo province.
"There is one objective aspect here: first of all, Kosovar Albanians continue to claim that their independence will soon be recognized and that they might proclaim independence unilaterally. Belgrade officials were forced to respond," the Russian diplomat said.
The three international mediators (Russia, the United States, the European Union) on the Kosovo issue have raised the subject of aggressive statements from both sides during talks, and Belgrade and Pristina eventually pledged to refrain from any steps that could undermine stability or hurt negotiations, he said.
"I think when mediators again meet with the conflicting parties in London on September 18-19, this subject will be discussed again and international mediators will give another consideration to this issue," Botsan-Kharchenko said.
The Russian diplomat also said that a partition of Kosovo into an Albanian and Serb sector was not being considered by international mediators.
"Let us make it clear at the current stage that neither Belgrade nor Pristina has proposed anything of the kind and that both are categorically against such a solution," Botsan-Kharchenko said, while commenting on assertions by some politicians that such a scenario was possible.
Both parties reiterated this stance during the Contact Group's meeting in Vienna on August 30, he said.
"Therefore, a partitioning of the region is not being considered by the troika of international mediators and was not addressed during the talks," he added.
Russia's fundamental position on the Kosovo problem is that "the method chosen to settle it will set a precedent," the diplomat said.
"This precedent could be used in other regions with so-called frozen conflicts," he said.
Moscow believes therefore that opting for selective approaches would be wrong.
“All the rules of settling situations of this kind should be universal. Double standards are unacceptable here,” Botsan-Kharchenko said.
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