DISSENTING SERB LEADER PROPOSES REFERENDUM AGAINST KOSOVO'S INDEPENDENCE
April 1, 2003 - FoNet
 
Gracanica, 1 April: The chairman of Serbian Assembly's committee for Kosovo-Metohija, Momcilo Trajkovic, has said that Kosovo Serbs and other non-Albanians should hold a referendum against Kosovo's independence.

"We have to organize a referendum so that all Serbs and non-Albanians in Kosovo-Metohija as well as those displaced can send a message to the whole world - if they wish to do so - saying that further insistence on Kosovo's independence would lead to an even more complicated situation," Trajkovic told the Gracanica-based Glas Juga. "The idea accepted by Serb communities is an old proposition of mine. It is not the solution but it is a good response to demands for Kosovo's independence and I am supporting it fully. It is good but it is not enough," Trajkovic said.

Asked whether Kosovo-Metohija was closer to or further away from independence in the wake of prime minister Zoran Djindjic's assassination, he replied that the state could strengthen its position if a political "sobering up" were to ensue.

Trajkovic warned that "if there is no sobering up, then ultimately everything will work in favour of the setting up an independent Kosovo".

Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 0757 gmt 1 Apr 03

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