Kosovo's President Insists No Partition Plan Exists

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci on Friday moved to dampen down speculation about an ethnic partition of the country, saying he was working only on the eventual inclusion of ethnic Albanian parts of Serbia into Kosovo.

"There will be no partition, autonomy or swapping of territories, I am just working on Presheva/Presevo, Medvegja/Medvedja and Bujanoc/Bujanovac [in Serbia] joining Kosovo," Thaci stated.

According to him, Belgrade would find that hard to contemplate, but he would put the issue on the table.

Thaci said he also saw the recent debate on this subject as positive, "despite deliberate - or not - misinterpretations and misunderstandings."

"We jointly will probably find a solution at the end of this process. Parliament will have the last word," he added.

Thaci also said it was time that Kosovo citizens had "a stronger voice" in the discussions with Serbia, by allowing their right to hold a referendum.

"I am conducting the necessary talks that in the near future will make it possible for the voice of citizens to be enabled through a referendum, especially on such agreements I consider as important for citizens to express their will," he added.

Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj meanwhile called an extraordinary meeting of the National Security Council, at which he warned that Kosovo authorities would react to anyone acting against the law.

"Anyone committing acts that violate Kosovo's laws and international agreements will get an answer from the rule-of-law authorities," Haradinaj stated.

Anyone entering Kosovo aiming to cause incidents would also be dealt with. "If anything happens, we are in a state of readiness to act," Haradinaj said.

A leading Serbian Orthodox cleric in Kosovo, Abbot Sava Janjic,...

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