Kosovo decision should secure stability, says Hungarian PM

HUNGARIAN NEWS AGENCY, Friday, February 09, 2007 7:33 PM

 

Budapest, February 9 (MTI) - It is in Hungary's best interest that the decision to be made on Kosovo should guarantee sustained stability in the region and that all parties involved be allowed to expound their position within reasonable time limits, in a genuine way, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said.

 

Gyurcsany expounded the Hungarian position in letters sent on Thursday to the German chancellor, who is president-in-office of the EU Council, the EU's high representative for the common foreign and security policy and the president of the European Commission.

 

"The paragraphs pertaining to autonomy and the rights of Kosovo communities in U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari's plan are especially important for us," Foreign Minister Kinga Goncz said on Friday, briefing the press on the letters.

 

Ahtisaari's proposal envisions internationally supervised statehood for the province. The plan does not explicitly mention independence from Serbia, but spells out conditions for self-rule and the right to apply for membership in international organisations.

 

Hungary insists that the U.N. Security Council should adopt a resolution on the future status of Kosovo, she said.

 

Hungary's position does not start from whether or not Kosovo should become independent as the stability of the entire region is at stake and this stability has many components, the minister said.

 

Goncz noted that the European Union should permanently help Serbia so that Belgrade should choose the road leading to European future.

 

In the letters addressed to Angela Merkel, Javier Solana and Jose Manuel Barroso, Gyurcsany said Hungary as a neighbour country deems it a priority for Serbia to preserve its stability and prospects to join the European Union.