http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=5402291&startrow=61&date=
2005-02-11&do_alert=0
Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
February 11, 2005
RUSSIA WANTS INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS FOR KOSOVO Dmitry Panovkin
-[T]he October elections have shown that even by stretching a point they
cannot be regarded as "a triumph of democracy." "In conditions when there is
no elementary security for the non-Albanian population, when there are no
guarantees that violence will not repeat, when the level of organized crime
is high and when the Serbs and other non-Albanians, who risked returning to
Kosovo, live practically in a ghetto, it is impossible to say that the
province has reached the standards of a democratic, multi-ethnic society as
was fixed, as an aim, in the documents of the United Nations."
MOSCOW - Russia has come out for creating conditions that would make it
possible to certify the situation in Kosovo "as meeting international
standards,"
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Chizhov said on the eve of the
Russian-Croatian consultations on bilateral relations and the situation in
Southeast Europe that is scheduled for Friday.
"After the creation of such standards, the UN Security Council has to create
a new resolution that would start the process determining the status of
Kosovo,"
Mr. Chizhov said.
"The Kosovo settlement is a subject for discussion not so much with the
Croatians as with other 'players,'
including the Contact Group that is working rather actively," he said.
"The situation in Kosovo and that surrounding it worries Russia a great
deal," Mr. Chizhov underscored.
"The drift to independence, the signs of which are obvious in the province,
the radicalization of the Albanian majority in Kosovo and the unsolved
problem of the non-Albanian, including Serbian, refugees cause a growing
concern," Mr. Chizhov said.
He said "in order to settle the situation, it is necessary to strictly
follow the UN Security Council's Resolution 1244 on Kosovo."
Mr. Chizhov reminded the audience of the international community's
coordinated position that is expressed by the principle of "at first the
achievement of internationally recognized standards and then the
determination of the status." These standards have been worked out by the UN
and then approved by the Contact Group.
Mr. Chizhov pointed out that the October elections have shown that even by
stretching a point they cannot be regarded as "a triumph of democracy." "In
conditions when there is no elementary security for the non-Albanian
population, when there are no guarantees that violence will not repeat, when
the level of organized crime is high and when the Serbs and other
non-Albanians, who risked returning to Kosovo, live practically in a ghetto,
it is impossible to say that the province has reached the standards of a
democratic, multi-ethnic society as was fixed, as an aim, in the documents
of the United Nations," Mr.
Chizhov said.
"We believe that it is premature to speed up the solution of the problem of
the Kosovo status. In any case, the UN Security Council, which will adopt a
new resolution to start the process of determining the status of Kosovo,
must consider the decision about the beginning of such a negotiation
process," he concluded.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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