Die Welt

The Serbian government has criticised the USA following reports that Washington may be preparing unilaterally to recognise a declaration of independence by Kosovo. "These are the wrong signals" said foreign minister Vuk Heremic in an interview with WELT-ONLINE.

"There is no pressure from the international community to reach an agreement over this."

He warned that a unilateral declaration of independence without the backing of the UN "will destabilise Kosovo, Serbia and the entire western Balkans."

On Friday high-ranking representatives of Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians are due to meet for talks in New York on the future of the southern Serbian province.

According to Jeremic such a step would be opposed not only by Russia but also by other, non-permanent, members of the Security Council such as South Africa. "Russia and other countries have strong misgivings over a unilateral declaration of independence. For a people to declare independence and have this recognised by third countries would set a precedent."

Jeremic refused to believe that it was "the mission of the international community to approve of an ideologically determined status."

The foreign ministers of the Kosovo Contact Group met already on Thursday in New York charged with conducting negotiations, in order to move the stalled talks along. The Contact Group includes, besides Germany, three other EU states as well as Russia and the USA. It has been set a deadline of 10 December to present a recommendation to the UN. Failure would probably entail Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence.