Question: How can you comment on the European Union Council conclusions on Kosovo?

Answer: Adopted on February 18 following self-proclamation of Kosovo’s independence, the European Union Council conclusions represent, in fact, an assortment of mutually exclusive theses and alogisms. The EU Council, by leaving each member free to decide on their relations with Kosovo, actually touches off a chain reaction of its illegal recognition as a sovereign state. In so doing, the Council makes reference to international law, and reiterates the EU's adherence to the principles of the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act, which cannot but cause bewilderment.

The decision to deploy an EU mission in Kosovo likewise has no legal grounds. As is known, the preparations for deploying the EU mission were – and still are – being conducted in circumvention of the UN Security Council. In this context the mentions, in the conclusions, of UNSCR 1244 look absurd. These EU actions do not conform to the principles of interaction set forth in the Russia-EU roadmap for the common space of external security, primarily in the part of strengthening the central role of the UN.

The assurances by EU that it is committed to equality of citizens and the protection of minority rights are clearly dissonant with the situation that has evolved within the EU itself, where tens and hundreds of thousands of residents in several countries have no citizenship at all due to the well-known policy of the governments of those states.

The EU, by continuing to follow the unilateral scenario of solving the Kosovo problem, is acting to the detriment of stability in the Balkans and in Europe and encouraging separatism in the world.

Russia remains firmly convinced that the problem of Kosovo’s status can and should be resolved in a reliable and long-term manner by way of the elaboration of, with the UN Security Council in a leading role, a compromise solution.

Russia’s constructive proposals on the options for continuing the status process have been presented in the UN Security Council. Our initiative to jointly devise a roadmap which would take into account the interests of both parties, the priorities of key international stakeholders and chart the guidelines for movement by the parties towards an agreement in tandem with their Euro-integration perspective is still valid and relevant.