Lavrov says Bush arms to Kosovo illegitimate

[Crvena zvezda]

Lavrov says Bush arms to Kosovo illegitimate 21 March 2008
Russia has called for an urgent Russia-NATO meeting regarding U.S. plans to send arms to Kosovo.

Moscow's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, says the meeting will likely take place next week.

He accused the U.S. of giving weapons to former terrorists for the war against terrorism, adding that such a move was, "if nothing else, interesting".

However, NATO officials said that they do not know of any requests coming from Russia for such a meeting.

Rogozin said that the people who were in power in Kosovo had reached those positions as organizers and leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which he said many considered to be a terrorist organization.

Any shipment of arms to the Kosovo Albanians would be illegitimate unless it comes under the terms of the UN Security Council Resolution 1244, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists in Tel Aviv, where he is on an official visit to Israel.

That resolution represents the only legal framework for solving the Kosovo situation, Itar-Tass news agency quoted Russia's top diplomat.

"It does not allow for the formation of Kosovo's armed forces, or any delivery of weapons, except those needed by the international forces deployed under the UN Security Council mandate," Lavrov said.

"No doubt we will analyze the current events in Kosovo and I wish to believe that the goal of this shipment of arms is not to force Serbs and other ethnic minorities to stay inside an illegally proclaimed state," he added.

"I do not think this will create additional stability in the Balkans, since it is more likely the opposite will take place," Lavrov warned.

Last night, President Boris Tadić called George Bush’s decision to send arms to Kosovo “bad news.”

Tadić said that the U.S. president should have refrained from taking such a step.

“It’s bad news and comes at a very sensitive moment for Serbia and the Serbs in Kosovo, and I can in no way support it,” the president told Pink TV.

He said that the news could be interpreted another way, as leading analysts have justified the decision as a routine measure on the part of the U.S. administration.

“That’s another way of interpreting it. However, the fact is that Kosovo was recognized in such a way that it has no legal form and was recognized outwith international law. Were a state to become independent on the basis of international law, such a decision could be accepted,” said Tadić.

The president added, however, that “something like this should not have happened.”