KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE TO SET EUROPE ON FIRE - SERBIA-MONTENEGRO MINISTER
BBC Monitoring International Reports - June 27, 2005

Excerpt from report by Montenegrin Mina news agency

Belgrade, 26 June: The independence of Kosovo would automatically lead to the independence of the [Bosnian] Serb Republic because the same principles would apply, Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic has said.

"In my contacts with world leaders, I insist on the principle of identical standards and I always tell them that the situation in Bosnia-Hercegovina would become more stable if the Kosovo problem is resolved within the Serbian framework. Let the Serbs of the Serb Republic get everything that will be granted to the Kosovo Albanians," Draskovic has told Blic [Belgrade-based daily].

According to Draskovic, the world understands that the future status of Kosovo must be a result of a compromise and an unconventional solution.

"The worst thing would be to impose a declaration of Kosovo's independence. I am telling everyone that no Serbian politician will sign a document granting independence to Kosovo. Without Serbia's approval, such a declaration would immediately cause upheaval in Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Albania," Draskovic said.

This fire could destabilize Europe and Kosovo's independence would provoke demands for the same status to be granted to the Serb Republic, the Turkish part of Cyprus, the Basque country, Northern Ireland, Corsica and Southern Ossetia.

Source: Mina news agency, Podgorica, in Serbian 1907 gmt 26 Jun 05

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