Is Berlin bringing more dangerous request to Serbia than one made by US? (Sputnik)
Sputnik portal reported yesterday Germany announces its commitment to force Pristina to form the Community/Association of Serb Municipalities, if Serbia “would be silent” regarding their proposal that Kosovo is granted the status of an observer in the UN.
Sputnik further said the West is obviously resolved to solve the Kosovo issue by the end of this year, and it is expected to be at the expense of Serbia. It’s not even ten days since the US official publicly announced that America supports the formation of the Kosovo armed forces and a news came from Germany through the unofficial channels, that Berlin would ask Serbia not to oppose the idea that Kosovo would get a status of an observer state in the United Nations.
This is not the first time that such a proposal is heard from the states that have created Kosovo, but it will be the first time that Germany officially presents it to Serbia as a proposal, which, as the media in Serbia speculate, should be brought to Belgrade on Thursday by the German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, on the eve of the announced continuation of negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina in Brussels.
According to Sputnik, the plan prepared by Germany is allegedly based on a model by which Palestine was given a status of the observer state (non-member observer state status) in the United Nations in 2012, and it has to wait for the full membership until a peace agreement with Israel is reached.
Pavle Jevremović, former Serbian ambassador to the United Nations, told Sputnik that making such a decision on granting this status to a single country does not depend on the Security Council, nor on the will of Serbia, but from two thirds of the members of the UN General Assembly. He further explained that such a proposal could have been submitted until now by any state, but they were obviously waiting to secure the votes.
Jevremović added Serbia does not have to recognize Kosovo, even if this scenario is realized, and that the very role of the observer state within the UN itself has no function.
“Such a state cannot take part in making any decisions, nor in voting. Such is the status of both Palestine and Vatican” he said.
Sputnik further wrote the observer status is not that unimportant. “If nothing else, it opens the door to this (non) member state for membership in the international organizations, but also it gets the possibility that friendly states might lobby for some important issues, or to prevent the things that are important to Serbia.”
Sputnik concluded by saying that “danger lies in a fact that the observer role of the so-called Kosovo could only be a stepping stone towards a full membership to the UN”.