Russia: NATO, EU trying to take over authority from UN
Russian presidential envoy to the EU Sergei Yastrzhembsky has accused NATO and the EU of trying to take over the UN's authority in the case of Kosovo.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, December 28, 2007
"Either way, we are against NATO and the EU taking over authority from the UN Security Council. This weakens the international law system, already weakened by the U.S. invasion on Iraq without the UN's approval," Yastrzhembsky told the Czech media.
"NATO and the EU are now trying to sidestep the world organization, in order to get the chance to leave Kosovo and then try to pass the mess they've made over to the international community. We do not want to be responsible for thoughtless solutions," the Russian official pointed out.
The main danger stemming from Kosovo's independence, as Moscow sees it, is that it will open a number of similar problems, and Kosovo is already creating problems for the EU.
"Those problems are drug and arms trafficking, illegal immigration, prostitution, and organized criminal groups. The idea of a Great Albania is alive in the Balkans, and appetites grow with the amount consumed," Yastrzhembsky said.
He warned that Kosovo's independence could fuel separatism in entire regions of the EU. "We also have numerous frozen conflicts. We could not then tell, for example the people of Abkhazia, that in their case the international community is giving Georgia's territorial integrity the advantage. That would be a case of double standards," Yastrzhembsky told the Czech daily Pravo.
