Indonesia disappointed over failure of Kosovo discussion

UN Headquarters, New York (ANTARA News) - Indonesia has expressed disappointment over the failure of international negotiations to solve the Kosovo problem in which one of Serbia`s provinces declared its independenve on Sunday.
"With the present development, namely the unilateral proclamation of independence by Kosovo, we deplore the failure of the dialog process," Indonesian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Marty Natalegawa told ANTARA on Sunday.
Amid a flow of expressions of support for Kosovo`s declaration from some countries, mainly those from Europe, Indonesia has yet to decide whether it will recognize Kosovo`s independence.
"First, we want Kosovo`s status to be decided in a peaceful way and in a dialog," he added.
Marty and the ambassadors of 14 other countries in the United Nations Security Council recently held an emergency meeting to discuss the Kosovo issue.
The meeting ended in disagreement about supporting Kosovo`s independence.
The European group in the Council, namely Britain, France, Belgium, Croatia and the United States supported Kosovo`s independence declaration, while Russia rejected it and asked all countries to declare it an illegal act.
European nations were reported to be preparing to give their official recognition to Kosovo`s independence.
Belgian Permanent Representatives to the UN Johan Verbake told the press European Union foreign ministers would hold a meeting in Brussels, Belgium, while Ambassador Alejandro Wolff of the United States said recognition of Kosovo`s independence would be discussed by his government in Washington D.C.
Marty added Indonesia had yet to decide its stance on Kosovo`s independence. "The Indonesian government is still observing and waiting for the latest developments in efforts to settle the problem which we hope will be in line with international principles and realities in the field," he said.
He added recognition of the independence declaration did not need to be given immediately.
"It is not a must to either support or reject a declaration of independence. Like us, all countries will want to make a thorough assessment first," he said.
The European countries had earlier applied the same principle although they eventually supported Kosovo`s independence.
"At the meeting (the UNSC emergency meeting on Sunday), the European nations showed a careful stance ... And no single nation at the meeting explicitly said that they would or would not give recognition," Marty added.
On Indonesia`s stance toward Kosovo, Marty said, Indonesia understood that Kosovo was a specific case.
At the same time, Indonesia was also upholding the principles of integrity and sovereignty as defined in the the UN Charter, he said.(*) END

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