SERBIA READY FOR EXTREME MEASURES IN CASE OF KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.01.2008 16:13 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Serbian government has adopted a secret plan to
implement "in case of a unilateral declaration of independence" by the
Albanian majority of the breakaway Kosovo province, it said on Monday.
With Western backing, Kosovo’s 90 percent Albanians are preparing to
declare independence in coming months despite objections from Serbia,
which offers the province autonomy in all matters but rejects any
change of borders.
The Serbian government said in a statement it adopted the contingency
plan at an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Monday.
"The document that was adopted is an expression of the state’s united
policy towards Kosovo," read the statement.
Details of the plan were kept secret. But information leaked in
the three months since the plan was first drafted point to several
measures, including cutting off electricity supplies and blocking
power routes for the province, which buys 40 percent of its power
from Serbia, as well as a trade and goods embargo.
Serbia could also refuse to recognize Kosovo passports and force
travelers to make a long detour to get to Western Europe. It might
also withdraw its ambassadors from countries that recognize Kosovo
as an independent state.
A government source said that the plan contained a series of measures
for each ministry, including preparations for a possible influx of
refugees from the ethnic Serb minority.
"This is mostly posturing, a show of determination, it doesn’t mean
that any of these measures will be implemented," the source said on
condition of anonymity, Reuters reports.
Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombed
to drive out Serb forces and halt the killing of Albanian civilians
in a two-year counter-insurgency war. Serbia insists only the U.N.
may determine Kosovo’s future and has relied on Russia, a veto holder
in the Security Council, to block UN recognition.