Bosnia protests Serbian FM's comments on Kosovo

People's Daily Online (CHINA), June 29, 2005

Bosnia on Tuesday summoned the ambassador of Serbia-Montenegro to protest comments by Belgrade's foreign minister linking the future of Kosovo with Bosnia's Serb Republic.

Serbia-Montenegrin Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic told a Belgrade newspaper on Monday that independence of Kosovo would automatically mean independence of Bosnia's Serb Republic.

Kosovo is a UN-administered Serbian province where ethnic Albanians are seeking independence. In Bosnia, the Serb Republic and a Muslim-Croat federation have a fragile power-sharing scheme since the 1992-95 war.

Bosnian Foreign Ministry officials said Draskovic's words were not helpful for neighborly relations among the former Yugoslav republics, and were detrimental to regional cooperation and development.

Bosnia has asked Belgrade for an official explanation of Draskovic's words.

The top international administrator of Bosnia, Paddy Ashdown, criticized Draskovic's comments.

"These borders are not a matter for negotiation," Ashdown was quoted as saying on Monday by Sarajevo-based news agency FENA.

Ashdown's office said in a statement that Draskovic's comments were detrimental to regional stability, and were totally unacceptable.

The future of Kosovo has nothing to do with Bosnia, the statement said.

Source: Xinhua