CURRENT AFFAIRS

JEREMIC: REALISTIC APPROACH TO CLOSE THE PANDORA'S BOX

NEW YORK, July 29 (Tanjug) - Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic warned that the consequence of a failure to agree on Kosovo would be the establishment of a universally applicable precedent that provides a ready-made model for unilateral secession, adding that a mutually acceptable solution must be worked out. "Serbia is committed to working with the international community to prevent such a disastrous scenario. What we seek is an equitable outcome that both sides can embrace," Jeremic stated in an article for the New York-based daily the Wall Street Journal. This is the only way to reinforce shared priorities, to normalize relations, and to complete the democratic transformation of the Balkans into a stable, prosperous region fully integrated into the EU, said Jeremic who is on a visit to New York with an aim to state Serbia's position on Kosovo after the ICJ advisory opinion before representatives of the UN and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Jeremic also stated that the only way forward is to commence peaceful dialogue between the parties that produces a compromise, a mutually acceptable solution to all outstanding issues. Discussing the ICJ advisory opinion according to which Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence does not constitute a violation of international law, Jeremic said that the ICJ has left it up to the UN General Assembly to manage the political repercussions of the advisory opinion. This has been confirmed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who stated that the General Assembly "will determine how to proceed on this matter," Jeremic added. "The forthcoming debate will therefore focus on the consequences and implications of Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in light of the court's findings. We must ensure that the outcome of this debate makes a positive contribution to global governance. We must find a realistic approach to close the Pandora's box opened up by Pristina," the minister stated. Jeremic once again reiterated that Serbia will never recognize the unilateral declaration of independence, implicitly or explicitly. Commenting the ICJ findings, he said that the ICJ neither endorsed the view that this unilateral declaration of independence was a unique case, nor Pristina's claim that Kosovo is a state. Moreover, the court failed to approve the province's avowed right of secession from Serbia, or any purported right to self-determination for Kosovo's Albanians. "Instead, the court chose to narrowly examine the language of the unilateral declaration of independence. This strictly technical approach made it possible to say that the text of the declaration itself did not violate international law," Jeremic underlined. According to him, the Kosovo Albanian authorities are deliberately misinterpreting the court's views as a legalization of their attempt at secession. This may produce extensive and deeply problematic consequences for the international community, Jeremic pointed out. "Ethnic minorities across the globe could take advantage of the opportunity to write their own declarations of independence according to the Kosovo textual template. This would put them in a position to plausibly claim that such texts sufficiently legitimize their respective acts of secession, and for their proclaimed independence to be in conformity with international law,".