Serbian president says Kosovo remains part of Serbia

Serbian president says Kosovo remains part of Serbia
BBC Worldwide Monitoring - February 13, 2005, Sunday

Text of report by Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA

Silovo, 13 February: President of Serbia Boris Tadic said this morning in Silovo, five kilometres from Gnjilane, that his desire to discuss with representatives of the international community the issue of Kosovo and Metohija in Kosovo itself was behind his visit to Kosmet Kosovo-Metohija .

"I wanted to talk here in Kosovo about Kosovo and Metohija and about the position of both the Serb people and all other citizens living in Kosovo with representatives of the international community."

He said that he himself would not attach any great importance to his two-day visit to Kosovo as it was a regular visit by the president of Serbia to the country's regions and villages and its people.

"I have come here to assess the situation, to alert the Serbian public to the conditions in which our kith and kin, our children, the elderly and women live", Tadic said.

"Kosovo and Metohija is part of Serbia-Montenegro not just under the international law but also according to our own law. This is my position which I advocate in Belgrade, in Kosovo, in Pristina and here in Silovo, Tadic said.

According to him, no people can say a land belong to them unless they live there and that is why the Serbs of Kosovo must have their basic rights guaranteed.

"The international community assumed an obligation to secure these rights when it adopted UN Resolution 1244. This is the topic I shall be discussing with Kosovo Administrator Soren Jessen Petersen and other international representatives", Tadic said.

He thanked the people of Silovo for preserving Serb culture and language which he said was one of the ways of safeguarding a Serb state in Kosovo.

The president of Serbia symbolically presented the flag of Serbia gift to the head of the Kosovo-Pomoravlje district, Milorad Todorovic.

Tadic entered Kosovo this morning via the administrative crossing point at Konculj.

His security is on his visit to Kosovo is being provided by special international troops, while Kfor Kosovo Force is monitoring all the roads along his route.

After Silovo, the Serbian president will visit the mixed Serb-Albanian population in the village of Cernica where 156 Serb families live. He will the travel to Pristina for talks with Kosmet Administrator Soren Jessen Petersen.

He will also tour the villages of Strpci, Velika Hoca and Orahovac. He will spend the night in the monastery in Veliki Decani.

SOURCE: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 0736 gmt 13 Feb 05