Serbia set to annul Kosovo’s declaration on Thursday
Top Serbian officials, including President Boris Tadic and Premier Vojislav Kostunica, held a series of priority meetings Tuesday, aimed at defining measures Belgrade plans to take in case Kosovo Albanians go through announced preparations to unilaterally declare the independence over the weekend.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Wednesday, February 13, 2008
As the first in a series of measures, Serbian government will declare Kosovo independence null-and-void in advance on Thursday, Kostunica said, explaining that the steps Pristina parliament is expected to make on Sunday would be an "illegal" act.
"We shall not allow such a creation to exist (independent Kosovo), not even for a moment. Rather, it must be declared null and void the very moment it is illegally proclaimed by a leadership of convicted terrorists," Mr. Kostunica said.
Tadic said that Serbia, as European and democratic country, has the legitimate right to peacefully defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
"I will not give up the struggle for interests of our citizens and I will keep on fighting to maintain Kosovo within our borders. The state has to act in defense of its territorial integrity and sovereignty in unifying and responsible manner. Only a European Serbia can defend Kosovo," Tadic said.
The National Security Council's meeting did not shred the light on Belgrade's "action plan" in a case of Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence, but government officials told KosovoCompromise.com that "no radical steps" would be taken following the expected moves by Kosovo Albanian leadership.
"The ‘Action Plan' is still a state secret, therefore, I cannot comment on it, but, what it means is that each ministry has a set of measures to undertake to make those Serbian citizens in Kosovo and Metohija who are loyal to the state feel that they are a part of that state as much as possible," Energy Minister Aleksandar Popovic said.
The military intervention has been ruled out by all major government officials.
