Rupel: EU and Pristina to start “coordinating” Kosovo status
The European Union and Pristina will “coordinate” further steps in the resolution of the Kosovo status after the UN Security Council failed to reach an agreement on the issue, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said at a briefing on the upcoming Slovenian EU presidency in the first half of 2008.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, December 21, 2007
"The key word is ‘coordination' (...) The EU and Kosovo must agree on what to do next without hurry", Rupel said, adding that he expected decisions on the Kosovo status to be taken during the Slovenian presidency, which is expiring at the end of June.
The Slovenian minister said he disagreed that the EU is acting against international law and outside of the UN system.
"This is not correct (...) we will respect Resolution 1244 and implement it", Rupel said.
He said the Resolution 1244 was enough to send an EU mission to Kosovo, but that EU foreign ministers will decide on the legal basis at the next GAERC meeting on January 28.
"At the meeting of the North-Atlantic Council, NATO decided that 1244 was a basis for the continued Kfor presence in Kosovo (...) if 1244 was good enough for a military presence, why would it not be for a civilian presence", Rupel said.
He added that the EU summit last week in Brussels adopted a "very important political decision" about sending a mission to Kosovo.
"This was a political, rather than a practical decision, because practical details will be discussed on January 28" at the GAERC meeting, Rupel said, adding that he expects the EU ministers to adopt an "action plan" for the sending of the mission.
He said, however, that he expected "some complications" in regards to the unified position of the EU about the legal basis of the mission.
"But these complications are not linked to Kosovo itself, but to situations in particular countries", Rupel said.
"Slovenia will persuade Cyprus that Kosovo is a unique case (...) we will fight for EU unity", he underlined.
"Some people say that we want to divide Serbia, but we say that someone wants to divide the EU (...) we will work to avoid divisions within the EU", Rupel argued and reiterated his support for the Martti Ahtisaari plan on "supervised independence" of Kosovo.
