PanARMENIAN.Net
French President voices support to Kosovo independence
01.12.2007 14:01 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ French President said Friday France would support
Kosovo’s independence, adding he hoped it would happen "at the right
moment."
The breakdown earlier this week of talks between ethnic Albanians
demanding independence and Serbs seeking to keep the province raise
the likelihood Kosovo will declare independence from Serbia
unilaterally at some point after Dec. 10.
Sarkozy said he did not consider the date as a firm deadline and said
he hoped the province’s leaders would not act hastily making a
declaration of independence.
"We hope it will be done at the right moment," Sarkozy said during a
Franco-Italian summit in the Mediterranean city of Nice. "If we have
to give it a few more weeks to calm down the situation and get to that
result, to France that seems preferable."
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi echoed the French position, saying
time is needed to prepare Kosovo’s independence.
Serbia has threatened to impose an economic and travel blockade if
Kosovo’s leaders make good on their pledge to break away – stoking
concerns of renewed unrest. Serbia, however, has also promised to
refrain from violence, the IHT reports.