Belgrade/New York, Nov 1, 2008 - Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic stated last night that conditions for deploying the EULEX mission in Kosovo-Metohija acceptable for Serbia include approval by the UN Security Council based on Resolution 1244 and the status-neutral stance of the mission which must not implement the Ahtisaari plan.
In a statement to the Radio Television Serbia, Jeremic said that parameters acceptable for Serbia are very clear and stressed that every civilian mission in the province must respect Resolution 1244.
Whoever is in our southern province must be status-neutral and must not be there with the aim of implementing the rejected Ahtisaari plan, said Jeremic adding that the mission must fully abide by Resolution 1244.
The Minister stressed that if reconfiguration is carried out in accordance with the clearly stated principles, Belgrade will be ready to contemplate the possibility of endorsing it.
He pointed to the importance of the reconfiguration and the agreement that may be soon reached between Serbia and the UN regarding the six-item plan which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon presented to Serbian President Boris Tadic in a letter from June 12, which guarantees that the UN will remain in the province, especially in the parts inhabited by Serb majority.
If the UN Secretary General's report is in line with our basic interests, that is, the preservation of sovereignty and territorial integrity, we will endorse it, said Jeremic.
He stressed that no mission will be deployed in the province unless agreement on a status-neutral position is reached at the Security Council, which was also confirmed in talks with Russian representatives.
If the Security Council report jeopardizes Serbia's sovereignty and territorial integrity in any way whatsoever, even implicitly, Russia will not support it, said Jeremic.
According to him, the report will thus not be adopted and there will be no legal mandate for anyone in Kosovo-Metohija except for the UNMIK, as envisaged by Resolution 1244.
Jeremic has travelled to New York prior to a Security Council session, scheduled for November 7, at which the UN Secretary General's latest report on Kosovo-Metohija will be presented.