Ahtisaari's Concern With Elections Should Not Influence His Suggestions Concerning Kosovo

Ahtisaari should enable real talks on Kosovo
Belgrade, Nov 10, 2006 - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said today that the mandate of UN Special Envoy for negotiations on Kosovo-Metohija Martti Ahtisaari is not to think about elections in Serbia, but to enable real talks on Kosovo, which has not been the case so far.
Commenting Ahtisaari's decision to postpone the submitting of a proposal for the future status of Kosovo until the elections in Serbia are held, Kostunica told Tanjug news agency that in every free and democratic state the issue of holding elections is an internal issue of that country, and added that Ahtisaari's mandate is to find a solution in line with the UN Charter. He said that Serbia's stance on Kosovo has been defined in the Constitution and confirmed by the people's sovereign will, which means that every future Serbian government will have a principled and consistent position on Kosovo.Representatives of international community know that Serbia's definite position, which no one can change, is that Kosovo has always been and will forever remain an integral and inalienable part of Serbia because it is thus written in the UN Charter and the Constitution of Serbia, the Serbian prime minister stressed.Since the Security Council will not breach the UN Charter, every one-sided legal act of violence against Serbia and the seizure of 15% of its territory would have immeasurable consequences and jeopardise stability in the region, Kostunica warned.He said that Serbia will consistently defend principles of international law and respect both UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the Dayton Peace Accords.