Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic on Friday accused Peter Feith, the European Union’s special representative in Kosovo, of making disturbing statements that could be interpreted as support for violence, according to the Serbian news agency Beta.

Speaking in Belgrade on Friday, Jeremic responded to comments made by Feith on Thursday in Brussels, where the EU representative said he was “quite surprised” by the statement of Serbian President Boris Tadic before the OSCE summit in Astana in Kazakhstan. At the recent summit Tadic said that any change in the current situation in Kosovo would end talks between Pristina and Belgrade.

Jeremic explained that Tadic was responding to the threat of violence during the negotiation process.”There can be no dialogue if the Albanian side at any time attempts to carry out violence in any part of the province,” said Jeremic, who has been highly critical of the EU’s top envoy in Kosovo.

“This is yet another disturbing statement by Feith which can be interpreted as an incitement to violence,” said the Serbian minister of Foreign Affairs. “International representatives in Kosovo, especially in times such as these, should take into account their statements which can seriously destabilize an already fragile situation in Kosovo.”

An autonomous province of Serbia, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in 2008, and has been recognized by most EU member states and the United States. Serbia continues to maintain that its permanent status cannot be resolved without further dialogue. The ethnic makeup of Kosovo is predominately Albanian with Serb enclaves.

December 5, 2010
Xinhua

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