Declaration
The conference "Kosovo: Status and Standards
Towards Assuring Regional Security and Stability"
Belgrade, June 6 2006
06/07/2006 , HCHRS
The conference "Kosovo: Status and Standards Towards
Assuring Regional Security and Stability" organized by the Helsinki
Committee for Human Rights in Serbia and the "Gani Bobi" Institute for
Humanitarian Studies on June 6, 2006 in Belgrade addressed the issues
crucial for securing quality coexistence of Albanians and Serbs in
Kosovo, and the modus vivendi guaranteeing the stability of both Kosovo
and the entire region.
Bearing in mind that the resolution of the final
status of Kosovo is in the hands of the international community,
participants in the conference agree that what Kosovo needs are adequate
mechanisms that would warrant security to all minority communities,
particularly to the Serbian community mostly endangered at this moment.
In this context, the participants highlight the disastrous effects of
the instrumentalization and manipulation of the Serbian community in
Kosovo.
Aware of dangers and the stumbling blocks in the way
of settlement of the final status of Kosovo, the participants in the
conference maintain that the Kosovo Serbs should be encouraged to stay
in Kosovo regardless of the pressure to which they are presently exposed
or to which the announcements of their exodus in the event of Kosovo's
independence might additionally expose them. The international community
and the majority in Kosovo should provide institutional guarantees for
the protection of the highest standards of minority rights and secure
affirmative actions in order to speed up the process of integration of
divided society.
Bearing in mind that settlement of the border issue in
the Balkans along ethnic lines turned out to be fatal, the participants
in the conference hold that "ethnic principle" and, in this context,
partition of Kosovo should be ruled out as options for solving the
Kosovo question and the minority issue in Kosovo. The participants
uphold, in particular, that Kosovska Mitrovica - de facto a divided town
- necessitates a long-term strategy for overcoming the present-day
situation and securing prosperity to all communities.
Belgrade, June 6 2006
HCHRS |
