Serbian, French FMs fail to agree on Kosovo
Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic and his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner expressed very different views on Kosovo status at their meeting Wednesday in Paris, their first since the constitution of the new Serbian government.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Thursday, July 17, 2008
"There were great differences in views on Kosovo", Kouchner said after the meeting.
Jeremic conferred with Kouchner in the latter's capacity as European Union Presidency head. In keeping with the Serbian government's action plan for Kosovo, the talks were not held at bilateral level as France has recognized independence of Serbia's southern province.
Pointing to the strong disagreement between France and Serbia on the Kosovo issue, Jeremic said that the present Serbian government will never recognize Kosovo independence.
The Serbian government is ready to cooperate with the UN, EU and France as EU Presidency, as well as with Russia on resolving the Kosovo issue, he said.
International civilian presence in Kosovo would be acceptable to Serbia only if approved by the UN Security Council, Jeremic underlined.
Koucnher welcomed the constitution of the new Serbian government, but mistakenly referred to the government in Baghdad instead of Belgrade.
