European Forum

Belgrade scraps controversial UN resolution on Kosovo

Yesterday (8 September) Serbia’s controversial draft resolution on Kosovo was dropped, a day before it was due to be submitted to the United Nations General Assembly (UN GA). Serbian president Boris Tadic announced that an amended resolution agreed by Brussels and Belgrade, which does not condemn Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence or call for negotiations on status, would be submitted today (9 September). The decision came after two days of intense negotiations between president Tadic and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton. EU member states have welcomed the new draft resolution.

With the new resolution Serbia has said it will drop its calls for the condemnation of Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence. The original Serbian resolution stated that unilateral secession was not an acceptable means to solve territorial disputes and called for dialogue on “all open issues”, a formulation which was widely condemned by international backers of Kosovo’s independence, including the US and Britain. In a statement, Tadic said: “We have supported talks to come up with a solution for Kosovo and Metohija since 2005 and we are carrying on today.” Tadic added that agreement had come about through negotiations with the five EU members which do not recognise Kosovo – Slovakia, Cyprus, Greece, Romania and Spain – as well as other states which support Kosovo’s independence. He said that the joint EU-Serbia resolution would ‘enable a dialogue for resolving the Kosovo issue’.

EU to mediate 
The Serbian government says it also backing renewed talks on Kosovo's status, with the EU playing a mediating role. The Serbian government said the new draft does not, however, in any way mark Belgrade's acceptance of Kosovo independence. President Tadic has described the draft as a "compromise" by Serbia with the EU, which Serbia hopes to join in the future.

Ashton, said in a statement that she "warmly" welcomes the Serbian announcement. The Serbian decision is expected to move the Kosovo debate out of the UN, where major power Russia backed Serbia's opposition to Kosovo independence, to the EU, where most member nations have already recognised Kosovo's independence.

The announcement has been welcomed by Serbian liberal politicians who support closer ties to the EU. Opposition parties in Serbia, however, were quick to label the decision "a defeat for the Serbian people". Slobodan Samardzic, vice president of the opposition Democratic Party of Serbia, DSS, claimed that by accepting the changes, Tadic and the government had committed an “act of capitulation under the ultimatums of the West”. “With this resolution Serbia at the UN General Assembly will defeat itself and the Serbian people,” Samardzic told a local news agency.

The Serbian announcement follows the non-binding July decision by the International Court Of Justice that Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence did not violate international law. Seventy countries, including the United States and most EU states, have so far recognised Kosovo's independence.
 

Sources: Balkan Insight; EU Observer; RFE/RL; Blic (image)