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Vojislav Kostunica addresses the parliament |
"Honourable parliament members,
Prior to the beginning of this parliament session we heard US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice state that the US has recognised the fictitious state of Kosovo.
Before the US, only Afghanistan has done so. This announcement by the US cannot turn a fictitious state into a real one, but it shows to the entire world the true violent face of the American policy of force. The Serbian government has recalled the Serbian Ambassador to Washington. This is the government’s first emergency measure which will apply to all countries that recognise the unilateral independence.
Yesterday, on February 17, 2008, the fictitious state of Kosovo was illegally declared on the territory of the sovereign Serbian state. Today begins our continuous fight to fully regain the entire province and restore Serbia’s constitutional order. That is our goal and Serbia will attain it. If we cannot fully achieve it today, we will do so tomorrow, because Serbia must remain free. Those who helped this fictitious state to come about forgot that Serbia has never and will never give up freedom.
Yesterday’s illegal act violated the UN Charter, Resolution 1244, the Helsinki Final Act and all norms of international law which international order is based on. The unilateral declaration of the fictitious Kosovo state directly jeopardises Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, its Constitution and constitutional order, as well as all legal and legitimate acts made by Serbia’s highest state institutions.
With its decision of February 14, 2008, the Serbian government in advance annulled all illegal acts of interim self-governing organs in Kosovo-Metohija and declared them null and void. This means that the unilateral declaration of this fictitious state on our soil has no legal consequences in the Republic of Serbia. Kosovo-Metohija remains an unalienable part of Serbia’s unified and indivisible constitutional and state legal order, and Serbs and all citizens of the southern Serbian province, who acknowledge the Republic of Serbia, are full and equal citizens of Serbia and have the right not to recognise illegal acts pertaining to the declaration of unilateral independence.
The Serbian government has also declared null and void all decisions of organs of the European Union to send a mission to Kosovo-Metohija since that directly threatens the sovereignty, territorial integrity and the constitutional order of the country. Being illegal, these decisions have no legal effect in the Republic of Serbia and do not envisage any obligations of the Republic of Serbia towards the EU, or towards anyone who implements these decisions.
We all know very well that this unilateral, illegal, violent and immoral proclamation of a fictitious state on Serbia’s territory was only possible with the use of force under the auspices of the US and NATO, as well as with the help of the unprincipled policy of leading EU states, which had neither moral nor political strength to defend the universal principles which the EU itself is based on. The proof of this is their intention to circumvent the UN at all costs while implementing such policy. The proof of this is the disunity amongst EU members towards the unilateral declaration, despite unbearable pressure by the US to breach international law in the harshest manner so that America could attain its military interests.
Yesterday we saw the final act of the brutal aggression towards and ruthless bombing of Serbia by NATO. The point of the policy of force can be brought down to the emergence of a creation on Serbia’s territory which is nothing but NATO’s military testing ground and its storage facility. Since the US do not trust their Albanian partners, they had to make a contract in the form of Annex 11 of Ahtisaari’s plan and sign that Ahtisaari’s plan is the oldest document on which this fictitious state is based.
Abiding by the Constitution and all Serbian parliament resolutions, particularly the Resolution on the protection of sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order of the Republic of Serbia, adopted by Serbian parliament on December 26, 2007, the Serbian government is conducting a unified state policy to retain Kosovo-Metohija as an inseparable part of Serbia. In the struggle to preserve the state sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order, the Serbian government has managed to ensure the international support of all countries committed to the preservation of the international legal order. You know that as soon as the illegal and unilateral independence was declared, Serbia demanded that the UN Security Council, the OSCE and the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers summon emergency sessions. If Serbia was wrong, would it ask all relevant international institutions and bodies to speak their minds on whether international law is being ruthlessly breached in Serbia’s case.
Though force will tread upon law and justice, Serbia will never acknowledge the fictitious state of Kosovo on its territory, but will keep asserting that the province of Kosovo-Metohija is a constituent and inseparable part of our country. When the independence of this creation was illegally and unilaterally declared, Serbia did not lose Kosovo-Metohija, but opened a new page in the history of the country. Since that moment, the key task and the main aim of our future state policy has been defined – to restore Kosovo-Metohija in the country’s constitutional order in accordance with all valid norms of international law, and to protect our people and every citizen in Kosovo-Metohija who respect Serbia’s constitutional order. The Serbian government’s decision to annul this act of violence is a historic moment from which Serbia’s state and national policy for Kosovo-Metohija after February 17 begins. From now on, the aim of our policy must be a free, safe and normal life for each of our citizens living in the Serbian southern province. All of Serbia’s potentials – economic, cultural, political, institutional and all others – must be employed with the aim to protect our fellow countrymen, citizens and the economic development of the regions they live in, secure jobs for them, as well as education and health and social care, preserve the spiritual and cultural heritage, attain freedom and full re-establishment of the province into Serbia’s constitutional and legal order.
The creators of the policy of violence carried out on Serbia are counting on the fact that Serbia will soon accept the evil it is made to suffer and that its rage will only last a day. We must be wise and enduring and most of all raise Serbia above all force and violence. Day after day we must show dignity and strength that will lead us to our goal. Violence and force we leave to those who have disgraced themselves before the entire world by resorting to them. Serbia must preserve stability in order to retain and defend Kosovo. I would like to use this opportunity to call upon all citizens and ask them to remain calm, to protest peacefully and not to demolish their towns and their country.
Honourable parliament members,
The Serbian government has led a consistent and unified state policy to protect the interests, sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order in accordance with the guidelines determined by Serbian parliament. Respecting all Serbian parliamentary acts, particularly the Resolution on the protection of sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order of the Republic of Serbia, adopted on December 26, 2007, the government met on February 14, 2008, and made the Decision to annul all illegal acts of interim self-governing organs in Kosovo-Metohija pertaining to the unilateral declaration of independence.
Bearing in mind that yesterday the fictitious state of Kosovo was illegally and unilaterally declared and that we can expect this act of violence to be acknowledged by some states, which will be a gross violation of international law, and most of all the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the Serbian Constitution, the government has demanded that Serbian parliament summons an emergency session to speak out about the government decision. I beseech you to confirm the government’s decision in the spirit of unified state and national policy and in accordance with the need to preserve the political stability of the country.”
Ambassadors are to leave the host country within 48 hours from the moment they deliver a protest note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and return to Serbia for consultations until further notice.
The main focus of Serbian foreign policy will be to keep this topic within the UN as that is the only legal framework securing the policy in accordance with international law, the Minister stressed.
Samardzic noted that unanimous decision of Serbian parliament to confirm the Decision to annul illegal acts of interim self-governing organs in Kosovo-Metohija pertaining to the unilateral declaration of independence greenlights the Serbian government to continue its policy in Kosovo-Metohija and on Kosovo-Metohija.
He announced that Serbia will function in Kosovo-Metohija even more powerfully and intensively in the areas where citizens loyal to Serbia live.
Serbia will manage and control the territory and population that is not loyal to Kosovo interim authorities and will also insist that UNMIK remains in the province. That is one of the strongest political and diplomatic measures as Kosovo authorities expect to get independent with the withdrawal of UNMIK, Samardzic said.
| Jose Riera Siquier and Bozidar Djelic |
The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that Serbia opposes any violence and that it will use all available diplomatic and legal means to protect its legitimate state interests.
Siquier and Djelic concluded there is the interest on both sides to increase trade exchange between the two countries, especially in the fields of infrastructure, energy and telecomunications.
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Drawing investments, creating new jobs, that’s the way we will defend our Kosovo-Metohija, Djelic said and stressed that Serbia must create a much stronger economy and potentials that will provide a series of new investments in the south of Serbia and Kosovo-Metohija.
He said that what was happening in the UN Security Council last night “behind closed doors” and division within the EU show that this “act” has come out of the frame of international law and represents a big problem for Serbia, but for the whole world as well.
Serbia will try to secure that this creation is not recognised in upcoming weeks, months and years, Djelic said.
Commenting on the withdrawal of Serbian ambassadors from countries that recognised Kosovo’s independence, Djelic said that in doing so we are behaving like any democratic, European country.
The EU and European road are not at stake. The top priority now is Kosovo-Metohija and it will be like that in years to come, Djelic stressed.
He noted that some of present and future super powers are on the Serbian side, like China, India and Brazil, adding that Serbia enjoys full support of the Russian Federation.
Djelic said that the presence of Serbs and other loyal citizens on the territory of the southern province gives considerable contribution to the Serbian statehood as they are “live connection”, noting that only a strong Serbia will be able to defend them.
The Deputy Prime Minister expressed assurance that the protest on February 21 at 5 pm in Belgrade in front of the House of Parliament organised by the government and parliamentary parties will show that opposition and all citizens also reject the Kosovo independence and it will be the strongest possible message that the strong Serbia, with dignity, peace and unity, is defending its interests.
Another maturity test will be the capacity to keep the unity on this issue, Djelic said noting that there must be no politicking.
He noted that Serbia is ready to invest €70 million in Kosovo-Metohija and announced Serbia’s greater media presence abroad.
Speaking on projects in Kosovo-Metohija, the Minister said that additional agricultural machinery needs to be provided in Osojane and added that agreement has been reached to build a mini-hydral plant and to rehabilitate the ski-centre on Brezovica.
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Kosovo: To recognise or not to recognise?
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| By Paul Reynolds World affairs correspondent, BBC News website |
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Kosovo's new flag: how widely will it be recognised?
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The declaration of independence by Kosovo has provoked a worldwide debate about the merits of recognising it as a state.
Several governments with breakaway movements of their own are refusing to do so. They are anxious about setting a precedent and argue against recognition on the grounds that there was no agreement between Serbia and Kosovo and no clear UN Security Council mandate.
Others have endorsed the declaration as a unique and justified move for freedom and the inevitable outcome to Kosovo's history, in which Serb troops were forced out after Nato waged war in 1999 and the province was handed over to UN control.
The numbers matter. There needs to be a critical mass of countries recognising Kosovo to enable it to develop and prosper.
The United States, which made its own declaration of independence in 1776, and whose support for Kosovo has not been in doubt, led the way in recognising Kosovo. President Bush said: "The Kosovars are now independent."
The European Union
Several major European Union member states have also swung behind Kosovo, giving it powerful support. The EU as a whole has a key role in supervising the limited form of independence that a UN report recommended for Kosovo and which Kosovo has accepted.
Britain, France, Germany and Italy all see the Kosovo move as a one-off and as the last piece of the old Yugoslav jigsaw being slotted into its new place.
However, the EU, which has no common foreign policy except by agreement, is not unified. Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia are in the No camp. So is Spain, with its own separatist Basque movement.
Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said: "Spain is not going to recognise this unilateral declaration of independence... because it does not consider that this respects international law."
Russia
Beyond the EU, Russia is opposing independence, as it always has, again arguing that such a move should depend on there being an agreement with Serbia first.
"We are talking here of the disruption of all the basic fundamentals of international law in Europe, which is a result of years of suffering and wars and strife," said the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Russia's Sergei Lavrov calls it a "disruption of fundamentals"
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"It would undermine the basics of security in Europe... It would inevitably result in a chain reaction in many parts of the world, including Europe and elsewhere."
One question is whether Russia will now more actively support the demands of two regions of Georgia for secession.
South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoyty said: "Both South Ossetia and Abkhazia have more political and legal grounds for their independence than Kosovo... we can clearly see a policy of double standards."
China
China indicated its opposition, perhaps with Taiwan in mind.
"China expresses its deep concern about Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence," the Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.
Taiwan spoke in favour of Kosovo. "Our consistent position is that we want to develop relations with any free and democratic country," spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh said.
To which the Chinese spokesman replied: "It is known to all that Taiwan, as a part of China, has no right and qualification at all to make the so-called recognition."
Israel, with negotiations for a neighbouring state of Palestine ongoing, was cautious, refusing to give an immediate position. Israel itself declared its independence in 1948.
Precedent?
Regions with aspirations of independence of their own are using the Kosovo declaration as a potential precedent for them.
"I salute the independence of Kosovo. No people can be forced to live under the rule of another," said Mehmet Ali Talat, leader of the Turkish Cypriots.
Kosovo is "a lesson in how to resolve conflicts of identity and membership, peacefully and democratically," said Miren Askarate, spokeswoman for the Basque regional government in northern Spain.
The chairman of the breakaway Transdniester region of Moldova, Yevgeny Shevchuk, said: "We believe that a new era started and a new system of international relations was formed the moment part of a country, based on a series of historical developments, decided to live independently, and this country can gain recognition."
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