Kosovo president rules out partition as "unacceptable, inhuman"

Sep 6, 2011, 11:12 GMT

Brussels - A partition of Kosovo, allowing the Serb majority-populated north to join the rest of Serbia, is 'unacceptable,' Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga said Tuesday.

'Proposals for partition of Kosovo or exchange of territories are unacceptable, inhuman and anti-historical,' she said after talks in Brussels with European Union President Herman Van Rompuy.

Serbia and Kosovo struck on Friday an EU-brokered customs deal, which ended a trade war that had led to violent clashes over the summer.

Van Rompuy praised both sides for reaching a compromise, calling the customs deal 'a significant step in improving relations in the region and ensuring freedom of movement of goods in accordance with European values and standards.'

Last week's agreement was denounced by Kosovo's opposition, which charged that in return for Serbia agreeing to let Kosovo goods pass through its territory, the government had agreed to give more autonomy to Serbs living in the north - potentially opening the way to partition.

While it has always been officially ruled out, partition has often been rumoured by diplomats and analysts as a possible solution to the Kosovo-Serbia dispute.

Kosovo broke off from Serbia in 2008, after almost nine years of United Nations rule following the 1999 NATO intervention with effectively put an end to Belgrade's control over the territory.

However, Serbia has not recognized the independence of its former territory, and five out of 27 EU nations - Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia - have adopted the same stance, complicating Kosovo's progress towards membership of the bloc.

Jahjaga - who also met EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton - said those five countries 'should not be an obstacle' to her country's 'European agenda, including (...) visa liberalization' - which the EU has granted to all Balkan countries bar Kosovo.

Kosovo can count on recognition by the US and major EU countries. Last month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Serb leaders they would not be allowed to move closer to the EU unless they normalized relations with Pristina.

Van Rompuy said 'all the 27 (EU) member states are committed to the European perspective of the Western Balkans as a whole.'

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