April 10, 2007 -- One-sided action of recognizing Kosovo’s independence would be a much worse way than through the UN and would be only detrimental, US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried told the Croatian daily Jutarnji List and added that Kosovo's eventual independence will not set a precedant.

US Senate will this week debate a resolution introduced by 4 Senators calling for an American unilateral recognition of Kosovo's independence. According to the Kosovo Albanian media, the resolution wants Washington to recognize Kosovo's independence in case a new resolution at the United Nations Security Council is blocked.

Serbian President’s Advisor Vuk Jeremic said that even if the resolution that requests support to Ahtisaari’s proposal were adopted, it would not have binding influence on the US foreign policy.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic left for South Africa to present Serbia's stand on Kosovo issue and ask this African country not to support UN Special Envoy Marti Ahtisaari’s plan for fragmentation of Serbian territory at the UN Security Council. South Africa is one of the 10 non-permanent members of the UN Security Council.

UN is preparing to send a fact finding mission to Kosovo and the Kosovo Albanian leadership along with the UN adminisstrator are objecting this visit. In their latest attack on the fact finding mission, the provisional Kosovo Albanian President Fatmir Sejdiu said that UN mission is unnecessary because, he said, Kosovo has sufficient elements for creating a state.

"For us it is important that Kosovo has provided sufficient elements of sustainability as a state and the special representative has reported on all the progress of the country and as such does not need any fact-finding mission," said Sejdiu.

A representative of Kosovo Serbs, Oliver Ivanovic, welcommed the fact finding mission because the socio-political situation of Serbs in Kosovo is not the same as presented by SRSG Joachim Rücker.

"The visit of the UN mission to Pristina and Belgrade will be a fact-finding mission because Rücker has reported on his success and has embellished it just as all the other UNMIK representatives did except the UN Envoy Kai Eide," Ivanovic said.

During the past Easter weekend, a prominent Austrian author Peter Handke and Director of the Theater Berlin Ensemble Claus Peymann have visited Visoki Decani Monastery that was recently attacked by a mortar. Actress Kathe Reichel, dramatist Jutta Ferbers and political scientist Eckart Spoo arrived with Handke and Peymann. They spent Easter holidays with the Serbs from Velika Hoca and presented them with 50.000 Euros that Handke received as an alternative award Heinrich Heine gathered by several German artists. Handke expressed a special wish to give the award to the Serbs in Kosovo as an expression of personal solidarity and support. 

serbianna (c)