Serbia changes Kosovo resolution in accord with EU

(BELGRADE) - Serbia has amended a draft resolution for the UN General Assembly on Kosovo after a "compromise" with the EU, calling for a "dialogue" between Belgrade and Pristina, the government said on Wednesday.

The draft resolution now "presents a compromise which Serbia has reached in cooperation with the European Union," the government said in a statement.

The amended draft "calls for a dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in accordance with our principal stance that a mutually acceptable solution, to be confirmed by the UN Security Council, can be found through negotiations," the statement said.

The government insisted that the draft "does not, in any way, recognise the independence" of Kosovo.

And Serbian President Boris Tadic, who met with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Brussels on Tuesday, said the draft "is a fruit of compromise... that a formula to open a dialogue on future solutions has been found," Tanjug news agency reported.

Serbia has shown a "sincere wish to solve all issues in a partner-relation with the EU and other important international bodies, convinced that this is the only way to reach the solution," Tadic said.

Belgrade press reported on Tuesday that Belgrade has accepted a EU proposal to abolish a phrase from the draft resolution which describes Kosovo's "unilateral secession" as an "unacceptable method to resolve the problem" caused by Pristina's proclamation of independence.

In February 2008, Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia, despite fierce opposition from Belgrade, which continued to consider it as its southern province.

So far 70 states, including the US and most EU members, have recognised Kosovo as an independent state.

Belgrade submitted the draft resolution after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a non-binding opinion in July that Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence did not violate international law.

The draft, much-criticised in Europe and which will be debated Thursday at the UN General Assembly, calls for fresh talks on all outstanding issues but also condemns Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence.