We are not the ones who opened the Pandora box
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that it is not Moscow which opened the Pandora box of recognition of unilateral secessions, but the US and the Western states which recognized Kosovo in February
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, August 29, 2008
"When we tried to stop such a solution for Kosovo, nobody listened. We were saying: do not do it, wait, you will put us in a terrible situation in the Caucausus. What will we be able to tell to the small nations of the Caucausus: why can Kosovo obtain its independence and they cannot?", Putin said.
"Noboby spoke of international law except us, and now everybody for some reason remembers there is something like international law", he argued.
"But who opened the Pandora box? We? No. This was not our decision and not our policy", Putin said.
Meanwhile in Brussels, Russian Ambassador to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov said that Moscow rejects criticism by countries which had bombed Belgrade and recognized Kosovo's independence.
He rejected claims by NATO and EU members that Russia used excessive force in its operations in Georgia.
"It is strange to hear excessive force being mentioned by countries which bombed the capital city of a European country nine years ago", he said referring to NATO air raids on Serbia.
