Serbs pull out from KPS, Azeris pulls out from KFOR
As Serbs continued to pull out from the Kosovo Police Service (KPS), Azerbaijan decided to pull out its contingent from KFOR considering the unilateral secession of Kosovo was illegal.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, February 29, 2008
Some 200 Serbs quit KPS in eastern Kosovo on Thursday, while Serb policemen from central Kosovo - Kosovo Polje, Lipljan and Obilic - gathered on Friday in the center of Gracanica to express their intention to refuse servicing an "independent state of Kosovo" and to put themselves under the authority of the UNMIK police.
The illegal secession of Kosovo has also prompted Azerbaijan to decide to withdraw its troops.
In Baku, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev has asked parliament to vote to withdraw its 33 soldiers serving in Kosovo since 1999 with a Turkish battaliaon under NATO command.
Aliyev submitted the initiative to a parliamentary committee this week, and the vote is expected on March 4. The proposal is expected to pass into law with little opposition.
Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said Kosovo's recent declaration of independence from Serbia had "sharply changed the political scene".
"The situation in Kosovo has been seriously changed. UN Security Council Resolution 1244 which authorizes a NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo has been violated", Azimov said.
"Azerbaijan, as well as a host of other NATO partner-countries, is now re-examining the position of its peacekeeping platoon," Azimov said.
