Albania's foreign minister: Dangerous to divide Kosovo

TIRANA, July 1 (Tanjug) - A division of Kosovo-Metohija between Pristina and Belgrade would pose a threat for peace, safety and stability not only in Kosovo but also in the region, Albanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ilir Meta said on Thursday.

I believe that we should all respect the existing borders and territorial integrity and strengthen the regional cooperation to achieve our European and Euroatlantic goals, Meta told the ATA news agency.

He said that Albania fully supports Kosovo's independence and its territorial integrity and that its status and borders is a settled matter, the Albanian agency reports.

Konuzin: ICJ opinion will affect Kosovo situation

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, July 1 (Tanjug) - Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Konuzin has stated that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion will affect the situation concerning Kosovo-Metohija (KiM), and expressed hope that the ICJ's stand will facilitate establishing of negotiations over the status of the province.

Konuzin stated that he expects the ICJ's advisory opinion concerning Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence to be based primarily on strict observance of international laws, rather than political expediency.

In a statement for Kosovo Serbian daily Jedinstvo, the Russian official reminded that one of the basic premises of international law refers to respect of countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The opinion of a respectable institution such as the ICJ will definitely affect the situation concerning KiM, and will hopefully create conditions for establishing negotiations over the province's status and finding a compromise solution which would be acceptable for all relevant parties, which is what the Serbian government is striving to do, Konuzin said.

He said that the majority of the countries do not recognize Kosovo's independence and added that some countries have decided to wait and see what the ICJ decision will be before they define their own stand on the issue.

Zeri: Negotiations will postpone new recognitions of Kosovo

PRISTINA, July 1 (Tanjug) - The idea of Pristina-Belgrade talks can create new problems for the recognition of Kosovo, the Pristina-based daily Zeri reported on Thursday, adding that the direct talks are expected to begin immediately after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gives its advisory opinion.

Regardless of how they are qualified, as technical or political, the talks will directly affect the process of recognition, the paper says, referring to the western diplomatic sources.

The states that are in two minds about what to do in respect of Kosovo could use these talks, or the expectation of their result, as some kind of new excuse to postpone making a final decision on the recognition of Kosovo, the daily reported.

According to the assessments of the West, there are about 20-25 states which will be influenced by the ICJ's ruling on what to do regarding the recognition of Kosovo.

Serbia for negotiations, Taci against

BELGRADE, July 1 (Tanjug) - Kosovo Prime Minister Hasim Taci has stated that Pristina will not agree to new negotiations with Belgrade over the Kosovo status regardless of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion, while the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that after the ICJ states its opinion, a new reality will impose the necessity for establishing negotiations to find a sustainable solution for the province.

There is no way this can ever happen. The three years of negotiations with Belgrade are over. Kosovo is an independent sovereign state and there is no going back. Our territorial integrity is inviolable and internationally recognised. The dream of division is just another dream of Slobodan Milosevic and the like, which still persists in certain circles in Belgrade, Taci stated in an interview for Belgrade-based weekly NIN.

According to Taci, after the ICJ states its opinion Pristina and Belgrade can discuss technical matters, such as border control, the search for missing persons, cooperation in the energy sector, return of archives and archeological artifacts, but negotiations which could reverse history in any way can never take place.

Prime minister of the Kosovo (interim) government expressed belief that at one point Serbia will have to choose between recognizing Kosovo's independence and renouncing EU integration.

In a broadcast for television B92 on Thursday, Serbian Foreign Ministry Political Director Borko Stefanovic said that he expects the ICJ advisory opinion to open “the path to a new international political reality which will lead to new negotiations, primarily over the status (of Kosovo).”

Stefanovic pointed out that all steps will be taken to prevent the linking of the EU membership and the Kosovo issue, that is, blackmailing Serbia by having to choose between the EU and Kosovo.

Serbia has so far been faced only with the stands of certain EU member countries, but should it once be blackmailed officially and institutionally, it would know how to respond. Our aim is to prevent such a possibility and to ensure Serbia's uninterrupted EU path,” Stefanovic pointed out.

He stated that it is completely out of question that Serbia could ever treat Kosovo as its neighbour or as a party in regional cooperation.

Zeri: Negotiations will postpone new recognitions of Kosovo

PRISTINA, July 1 (Tanjug) - The idea of Pristina-Belgrade talks can create new problems for the recognition of Kosovo, the Pristina-based daily Zeri reported on Thursday, adding that the direct talks are expected to begin immediately after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gives its advisory opinion.

Regardless of how they are qualified, as technical or political, the talks will directly affect the process of recognition, the paper says, referring to the western diplomatic sources.

The states that have two minds about what to do in respect of Kosovo could use these talks, or the expectation of their result, as some kind of new excuse to postpone making a final decision on the recognition of Kosovo, the daily reported.

According to the assessments of the West, there are about 20-25 states which will be influenced by the ICJ's ruling on what to do regarding the recognition of Kosovo.

Koha Ditore: Three Serb MPs help preserve Sejdiju's seat

PRISTINA, July 1 (Tanjug) - Three Serbian MPs in the Kosovo parliament have withdrawn their signatures from a caucus request for inspection into whether Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiju is violating the Constitution by keeping a frozen mandate as the leader of the Democratic Union of Kosovo (DSK).

By withdrawing their signatures, MPs Dragisa Miric, Mihajlo Scepanovic and Vladimir Todorovic contributed to the blocking of the parliament discussion on Kosovo president, Pristina-based daily Koha Ditore reported on Thursday.

The three Serb MPs had previously signed the request, together with 29 other MPs in the Kosovo parliament, whereby they put forth the question to the Constitutional Court as to whether President Sejdiju is violating the Constitution by keeping the frozen mandate as DSK leader.

The daily's sources pointed out that the withdrawal of signatures will bring to a halt the process which could have resulted in the deposition of the Kosovo's top official.

The three MPs have decided to help preserve the seat of President Sejdiju, the daily stated, adding that Scepanovic has confirmed his decision to withdraw his signature.

Serbia again achieves trade surplus with CEFTA

BELGRADE, July 1 (Tanjug) - Serbia achieved a trade surplus of USD 491 million in its trade with the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) countries in the first five months of 2010, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia has released.

The CEFTA is an agreement on free trade between Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, Moldova and UNMIK on the behalf of Kosovo-Metohija.

Serbia's export to the CEFTA region in the first five months of 2010 amounted to USD 1.03 billion, while the value of import was USD 539.7 million. The coverage of import by export was 191 percent.

The CEFTA region is one of a few markets with which Serbia has a constant surplus in exchange i.e. realizes greater export than import. According to the participation in Serbia's total export, the CEFTA market takes the second place, wile the first belongs to EU.

From January to May, Serbia exported to CEFTA region primarily agricultural products - cereals, cereal products, drinks and iron and steel.

In the same period, the products that were imported the most were: electricity, iron and steel, stone coal, and non-ferrous metals, as well as fruits and vegetables.

In 2009, Serbia achieved a surplus of USD 1.37 billion in the trade with CEFTA region, which mostly resulted from export of agricultural products.

Jeremic:Serbia not to recognize KiM regardless of ICJ ruling

WASHINGTON, July 1 (Tanjug) - Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic has stated that Serbia will continue to reject Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence regardless of the upcoming ruling on the matter from the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

"The UDI - the unilateral declaration of independence - is something that Serbia is not going to accept," Jeremic told the reporters at the Serbian Embassy in Washington, the daily Washington Times reported.

Djelic: Spain and Italy will be first to ratify SAA

BELGRADE, July 1 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic stated that, according to the information he has, Spain and Italy will be the first countries to ratify the Stabilization and Association Agreement between the EU and Serbia.

In an interview published by the Belgrade-based daily Vecernje Novosti on Thursday, Djelic said that the Belgian foreign minister, who will take over the EU Presidency on Thursday, stated last week that the issue of Serbia's candidacy will most likely be considered already in September.

"I believe that this will certainly happen during Belgium's EU Presidency, that is until the end of the year, and it is up to us to do our best to make it happen as soon as possible," Djelic said.

He said that due to the crisis, it is unrealistic to expect that the entire Western Balkans will join the EU in 2014, adding that although some western diplomats say that the accession could be realized in 2020, that date is utterly unacceptable.

He said that the official EU policy is that the EU integration and Kosovo status are two separate processes.

"We have made it clear that it is in Serbia's interest to join the EU, but that we will not do it at all costs, and certainly not at a cost of losing a part of our territory. In any case, the EU member states are not united regarding the issue of Kosovo," Djelic underscored.

Spain will encourage talks on practical issues

BRUSSELS, July 1 (Tanjug) - Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos stated in Brussels on Wednesday that his country, which has not recognized the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo, will keep encouraging Serbs and Albanians to work together on practical issues in order to make people's lives better.

When the Spanish EU Presidency began, there was a lot of scepticism over our position on Kosovo and it was believed that not much progress and initiatives would be made in respect of the Western Balkans, Moratinos stated at a news conference.

Stressing that it is not up to him to judge, but rather to the regional countries, Moratinos pointed to a successful meeting held in Sarajevo, which not only resulted in the fact that all peoples of the region were sitting together and showed their commitment to the EU integration, but that the European side displayed commitment to the EU enlargement to the Western Balkans as well.

Spain is to hand over the EU Presidency to Belgium on Thursday.

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