Belgrade Protests German Ambassador's Remarks on Kosovo

[Aptrgangr]

Belgrade Protests German Ambassador's Remarks on Kosovo

The Serbian government said Thursday it would protest to Berlin over a call by the German ambassador in Belgrade for independence for the disputed Kosovo province.

"Ambassador Zobel has, in many ways, questioned the territorial integrity of Serbia and the inviolability of its recognised international borders," the statement continued.
Speaking at a public debate in Belgrade on Wednesday, Zobel said the sensitive issue of Kosovo's status should be solved as soon as possible by granting an internationally-supervised independence to the southern Serbian province.

Ambassador's remarks in line with UN mediator's
That is in line with recommendations made by United Nations chief mediator Martii Ahtisaari for the future status of the Albanian-majority province.
His plan has already been endorsed by Kosovo Albanians, the European Union and the United States but is strongly opposed by Moscow and Belgrade, which has instead suggested that the province be granted autonomy within Serbian borders.
If the Kosovo issue was not solved as suggested, "the problems could reappear in Vojvodina (a northern Serbian province with a multi-ethnic population) and Sandzak," a southwestern Serbian region with a strong Muslim population, Zobel was quoted as saying by private radio B92.

Belgrade call on Berlin for clarification
The Serbian government said it expected "the German government to clarify whether Ambassador Zobel has expressed the official stance of his government."
Serbian President Boris Tadic also sent a protest note to the Germany's foreign ministry, and his office said German President Horst Kohler would receive a similar note.
The German embassy in Belgrade has meanwhile denied that Zobel warned that Vojvodina's future might be on the line, according to a statement quoted by the Beta news agency.
The ambassador himself apologised at a brief press conference late Thursday "for remarks that might have been incorrectly understood," B92 reported.
Though legally a Serbian province, Kosovo has been run by a United Nations mission since mid-1999, when a NATO bombing campaign ended the Serbian forces' crackdown on the independence-seeking ethnic Albanian population.

Belgrade Protests German Ambassador\'s Remarks on Kosovo | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 12.04.2007

[Crvena zvezda]

Then this must mean that Kosovo independence is supported in Germany or that this man is a bad diplomat since he claimed it was a private opinion. Ambassadors are not supposed to mention private opinion and are supposed to only mentioned the views of the country they represent.

[rodion raskolnikov]

This German Ambassador did the same thing as Micheline Calmy Rey (that was in charge with Swiss foreign affairs). These statements are just political: trying to show a kind of "progressist behavior" and to avoid problem with the Kosovar minority living in Deutschland or Switzerland.

RODION RASKOLNIKOV

[Crvena zvezda]

Originally Posted by rodion raskolnikov

This German Ambassador did the same thing as Micheline Calmy Rey (that was in charge with Swiss foreign affairs). These statements are just political: trying to show a kind of "progressist behavior" and to avoid problem with the Kosovar minority living in Deutschland or Switzerland.

RODION RASKOLNIKOV

True. there are quite a few of them in Germany and ewen more (200,000+) in Switzerland. I thing the only benefit of these comments is that it will raise euroskepticism among Serbs -- why join EU when it's members don't respect Serbia's soveirgnity and territorial integrity.

[Crvena zvezda]

I think what Serbia should really be protesting is Austria's plan for Kosovo independence. It is bound to fail. Although I agree with the South Tyrol model I prefer the proposal made by Vuk Draskovic under which Kosovo is run by a one country, two systems regime like in China (Kosovo indepentdent in all but name and Serbia having control only over borders and kosovo being totally demilitatized) but with Serbia having special ties to the north and being the guaranteer state for them.

INTERVIEW-Austrian chancellor seeks face-saving Kosovo deal
By Boris Groendahl and Alexandra Zawadil

VIENNA, April 13 (Reuters) - Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer is working with Serbia on a deal to grant the breakaway province of Kosovo independence in a way that is acceptable to Belgrade.

Gusenbauer told Reuters in an interview the West had to acknowledge that Serb leaders at the moment could not endorse the independence plan proposed by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari and a formula was needed which did not humiliate Belgrade.

"We are working with (Serbian President) Boris Tadic and his people to find a way to implement the essence of the Ahtisaari plan," Gusenbauer said in the interview late on Thursday.

Gusenbauer, a Social Democrat who took office in January as head of a wide coalition government, said Austria had established itself as an honest broker in the region.

"It can't be the goal to humiliate Serbia, but there needs to be a deal where both (Serbia and Kosovo) emerge from the situation holding their heads high," he said.

The U.N. Security Council is discussing Ahtisaari's plan, in which one of the major problems is how to deal with the northern part of Kosovo inhabited predominantly by Serbs.

Gusenbauer said one way out might be to model the area on the semi-autonomous province of Alto Adige in northern Italy, known in Austria as South Tyrol.

The region is populated predominantly by German-speaking people with Austria as their guarantor state.

Italy and Austria agreed in 1972 that the province could have special legislative rights and fill major administrative posts without interference from Rome, an element missing from Ahtisaari's plan for the Serb areas of Kosovo.

"Perhaps the northern part of Kosovo could develop in a similar fashion as South Tyrol has developed in the past in Italy," Gusenbauer said. "There are a number of models."

Serbia has so far rejected any deal that would give Kosovo independence, even if Serbia had a guarantor role for the Serb areas or Serbs given more rights in Kosovo.

Belgrade itself has used Alto Adige as an example too, but in their model, the entire province of Kosovo would remain part of Serbia just as the province is entirely part of Italy.

Gusenbauer said he did not expect Russia to veto the plan in the Security Council but hoped its reluctance to agree quickly meant there was more time to find a solution. He also advised the United States not to rush to recognise Kosovo's independence unilaterally. (Additional reporting by Matt Robinson in Pristina and Ellie Tzortzi in Belgrade)

[Crvena zvezda]

ZOBEL APOLOGISES
April 12, 2007
YU

German Ambassador in Belgrade Andreas Zobel on Thursday apologised for his statements made at the Forum for International Relations of the European Movement in Serbia and added that, regardless of how media had carried them, they represented his personal view, rather than the position of the European Union or the German government.

At a special news conference at the German Embassy in Belgrade Zobel apologised for his vague statements which had caused the misunderstanding and created the impression that he did not have understanding for his host country.

Zobel said that he would like to clarify once again that he neither said nor believed that Hungary had historic aspirations towards Vojvodina or that it planned to express them.

He said that responding to the questions of participants in the Forum he had voiced his personal analysis, rather than the stand of the German government or the European Union and added that all Wednesday statements, whether carried in the right or wrong way, could be attributed only to him.

He said that the EU and German stand on Kosovo was well known.

Our goal is peace and stability in the Western Balkans and that's why we urge a solution that would take into account the justified interest of the population of Kosovo, he said.

Kosovo is a sui generis case which cannot be transferred to other areas in the region or the world, the ambassador said.

Journalists who attended the news conference could not ask additional questions and Zobel explained this by saying that he did not want things to go any further.

[Marulus]

He probably wanted to test the Serbian public opinion on that issue.

[Crvena zvezda]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

He probably wanted to test the Serbian public opinion on that issue.

That could also be possible. But there was no point, like before only the jacobins at the Liberal Democratic Party and possibly some minority rights groups support independence (the latter being divided).