Kostunica: Serbia cannot sign the SAA if the EU sends an ESDP mission to Kosovo
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Minister for Kosovo and Metohia Slobodan Samardzic have said that Belgrade could not sign the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU if a European mission was sent to Kosovo, because then a signature would mean “recognizing the province’s independence.”
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Monday, January 28, 2008
"The SAA in a package with the EU mission is being annulled by the one offering the agreement," Kostunica said, adding that the document should not be signed if the EU decided to deploy its mission to Kosovo.
"If the EU mission comes after the agreement, the parliament could not ratify that agreement, and prior to that the government would have to proclaim it invalid," the prime minister pointed out.
He said that the deployment of an EU mission to Kosovo was the gradual implementation of UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari's plan for the supervised independence of Kosovo.
"We are approaching that crucial moment, when Kosovo will declare independence. Time is running out and we believed this was the last moment to say that," the prime minister added.
Kostunica stressed that there was no dilemma about Serbia heading toward Europe, because institutions in line with European standards had been built in the country over the past few years, but also said it was more important for the EU to respect the country's territorial integrity.
Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardzic said that the SAA should not be signed without a special agreement by the government.
Samardzic explained that many crucial things had happened since the agreement's initialing on November 7, 2007.
On December 14, the EU issued conclusions in which it hinted at supporting Kosovo's independence and participating in the implementation of solutions from the Ahtisaari plan, Samardzic said, and added that this twist had a determining effect on the necessity of the Serbian government taking an additional stand.
