Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Kosovo President Rejects Serbian Idea of Partition on Ethnic Lines

by Reuters

   PRISTINA, KOSOVO --

   Kosovo President Hashim Thaci ruled out on Tuesday partition of the
   country with Serbia along ethnic lines, an idea raised in Belgrade to
   settle a
   long-running dispute that is hindering both sides' ambitions to join
   the European Union.

   Thaci is due to meet Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Brussels
   after the summer break under an EU-sponsored dialogue that has made
   little progress in normalizing relations between Belgrade and Pristina
   since it was launched in 2013.

   But Thaci dismissed suggestions that Kosovo, which has an ethnic
   Albanian majority but also a Serb minority, should be divided.
   Officials in Belgrade say partition, allowing Serbia to maintain
   control over northern Kosovo where ethnic Serbs form a majority, could
   be acceptable to both sides.

   "I want to assure the people of Kosovo that there will be no force that
   will make Kosovo discuss and ... agree to partition," he said at a news
   conference. "We need to reach an agreement with Serbia as soon as
   possible in order to have mutual recognition."

   Serbia lost control of Kosovo in 1999 when NATO waged a bombing
   campaign to halt killings of ethnic Albanians in a two-year
   counterinsurgency war. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, backed by
   the United States and most EU countries.

   Kosovo is recognized by more than 100 states, but not by Serbia and its
   traditional ally Russia. Belgrade still claims Kosovo as its integral
   part.

   Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said he had discussed partition of
   Kosovo during a visit last week to the United States, an outspoken
   advocate of Kosovan independence.

   "The model of partition or delimitation is a proposal that I have
   pointed at as a solution ... now all cards are on the table," Dacic
   said after meeting Jared Kushner, the son-in-law and a close adviser of
   President Donald Trump.

   Serbia and Kosovo are under pressure to resolve all outstanding issues,
   including defining borders, in order to build closer ties with the EU
   and eventually join the bloc.

   Serbs account for 5 percent of Kosovo's 1.8 million population. Most
   live north of the Ibar River and look to Belgrade as their government,
   refusing to recognize institutions in Pristina.

   Partition is fiercely opposed by Serbian nationalists and the
   influential Serbian Orthodox Church, who say they fear for the fate of
   Serbs who would remain scattered in enclaves inside Kosovo, their
   Orthodox Christian monasteries and church property.