Tadic: Serbia will never recognize Kosovo

Posted By Joshua Keating Friday, September 25, 2009 - 3:37 PM Share

In his General Assembly address, Serbian President Boris Tadic strongly criticized Kosovo's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) and countries that have recognized it, saying, "Kosovo's UDI is an attempt to impose a 19th-century outcome to a 21st-century challenge." Serbia has challenged the UDI in the International Court of Justice and Tadic took the opportunity to warn of the slippery slope that could result if the court rules in Kosovo's favor:

There is no doubt that the court's conclusions will constitute a powerful legal precedent, with over-arching consequences for the United Nations system. The outcome will either strongly deter other separatist movements from attempting to secede, or produce a result that could encourage them to act in similar fashion. Plainly said, should Kosovo's UDI be allowed to stand, a door would open for challenging the territorial integrity of any UN member State.

Tadic vowed that Serbia would "never, under any circumstances" recognize the indpendence of what he calls "our Southern province."

Never is an awfully long time, and given that Serbia is thankfully unwilling to use force to resolve the issue, it seems unlikely that they will be able to keep up this hardline stance as Kosovo's de fact independence becomes more established. 

 

GRANT

9:14 PM ET

September 25, 2009

If there's enough powerful

If there's enough powerful neighbors who are unwilling to tolerate any more wars in Europe Serbia will likely accept the practical reality of Kosovo's independence and eventually legally recognize it. However, if the nations powerful enough to intervene lose all interest or lose the power to intervene I don't that the Republic of Kosovo will last long.
On a related matter: if Kosovo was so vital to Serbia why were there so few Serbs living there compared to the Albanians? Even if we assume that centuries of uncaring about ethnicity and official Ottoman policy led to many Albanians and very few Serbs living there it still doesn't explain their absence over the past ninety years or so.

 

NSA47

11:27 PM ET

September 25, 2009

ugh

Who cares? How is this news? Next we'll have an update that the Kosovar Albanians respond that the Serbs will never rule them again.

Same broken record for 800 years.

A whole bunch of countries would trade places with Serbia in a heartbeat -- a fairly solvent, well positioned and well educated (and inexpensive) workforce being begged to join Europe -- and yet no one has suffered like the Serbs. Oh the injustice.

What a boring soap opera the Balkans has become.

 

DUMB-BLONDE

1:36 PM ET

October 2, 2009

"Kosovo's UDI is an attempt

"Kosovo's UDI is an attempt to impose a 19th-century outcome to a 21st-century challenge."

As supposed to unleashing the Serbian army and paramilitary rapists and criminals to drive out at least 50% of the Albanian population? That was so modern Tadic

 

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