Belgrade plans UN diplomatic offensive after Kosovo ruling (Roundup)

Jul 30, 2010, 16:21 GMT

Belgrade - Serbia is planning a 'diplomatic offensive' against Kosovo in the United Nations in the wake of last week's legal ruling on its status, Belgrade newspapers said Friday.

The move has angered Western leaders and places its EU future at risk, papers reported.

Officials in Belgrade have submitted a draft resolution to the UN which insists that unilateral secession is 'unacceptable' and calls for renewed talks on 'open issues,' including the status of the former province.

'Serbia is gambling with its EU bid,' the daily Blic warned.

Serbia submitted its draft resolution on Wednesday, just six days after the International Court of Justice in the Hague ruled that Kosovo's 2008 unilateral declaration of independence did not breach international law.

The draft, which requires a majority in the United Nations General Assembly when it meets in September, insists that unilateral secession is 'unacceptable' and calls for renewed talks on 'open issues,' including the status of the former province.

That formulation has angered leading Western nations, most of which recognized Kosovo and have urged Serbia to stop blocking it.

President Boris Tadic dismissed the criticism, calling the resolution a 'constructive' document in line with European Union's interests.

Tadic said Serbia consulted its 'European partners' while writing the draft resolution.

'We are constantly in contact with our European friends because Serbia needs to be a predictable partner,' Tadic told reporters in Belgrade. He however added that Serbia wrote the text of the resolution alone.

Local newspapers quoted the British ambassador to Belgrade, Stephen Wordsworth, as saying that he was 'surprised' when Serbia submitted its draft to UN without informing the EU.

Wordsworth warned that it made no sense for Serbia to confront both the UN in New York and the EU, while saying it wants to join the bloc. He described the text of the draft as 'unacceptable' and called Belgrade to withdraw it for modifications.

The United States embassy in Belgrade also reacted, saying that it was 'regrettable' that Serbia did not consult the US before filing its draft resolution.

If Serbia sticks by its draft position, a counter resolution backed by at least the 22 EU countries which have already recognized Kosovo is almost certain, diplomats told Blic.

Belgrade officials said they rushed to submit the draft resolution because they wanted to make sure their proposal was the first on the agenda for debate - if it is adopted, all latter resolutions are automatically scrapped.

So far, 69 out of the 192 UN member-states have recognized Kosovo since it declared independence in 2008. Among those who have not are Russia and Spain.

Both Serbia and Kosovo have embarked on a campaign for votes in the General Assembly.

Both Belgrade and Pristina's top diplomats, Vuk Jeremic and Skender Hyseni, travelled to the UN in New York to lobby for their side, the former to curb support for Kosovo and the latter to press for more recognitions in the wake of the ICJ ruling.

Kosovo, with its 90-per cent ethnic Albanian majority, declared independence in February 2008, nine years after NATO ousted Serbia's forces from the territory to end ethnic bloodshed.

Belgrade leaders insist that Kosovo is Serbia's heartland and have vowed never to recognize its independence and to continue fighting its secession by diplomatic means.