New Kosova Report

Croatia: Kosovo is entitled to independence

Thursday, 06 March 2008

Kosovo is entitled to independence

Croatian President Stipe Mesic yesterday ruled out concerns that Kosovo’s independence could trigger problems for countries with similar autonomous regions and added that Kosovo was entitled to declare its independence.

“Kosovo is different from the autonomous regions of other countries, bearing in mind that in the former Yugoslavia it had the same competencies as the republics. It is wrong to think that because of Kosovo’s independence the same thing will happen in other countries with similar issues. I hope Serbia will understand that the declaration of Kosovo’s independence from Serbia was a result of a wrong policy by Belgrade vis-à-vis the Kosovo Albanians,” Mesic said during a press conference in Tokyo.

Claiming that it is possible for Serbs to have good relations with Albanians, Mesic added that Serbia must apologize for what it has done in Kosovo.