New Kosova Report

Austria recognizes Kosovo's independence

Wednesday, 20 February 2008

Austria recognizes Kosovo

VIENNA - The Austrian government announced on Wednesday that it will recognize the independence of Kosovo, even if formal recognition was set to be announced only next week.

"I recommended to the government today to take the necessary steps to recognise Kosovo," Austria Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said in a statement.

"In line with Austrian law, the government will propose to the president that I be empowered to send the letter of recognition to the Kosovar government," Plassnik said.

However, that would happen only next week when President Heinz Fischer was back from a trip to Africa, the president's spokesman Bruno Aigner said.

Plassnik and Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer both said earlier this week that the government intended to recognise Kosovo's independence as early as this week.

Meanwhile, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic has told journalists in Vienna that Austrian recognition of the Serb province of Kosovo's independence would be "very deplorable" and have harmful consequences for bilateral relations.

The first step would be the recall of the Serbian ambassador to Austria, and Austria's important political and economic interests in Serbia would also suffer.

He added that Serbia would use all possible means to fight against what he called Kosovo's "ethnically-motivated secession" directed against Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty. "We must react," he said, "for we have no choice."