UNITED NATIONS—If the U.N. Security Council does nothing to stop Kosovo from seceding, it will tell the world that no country's sovereignty and borders are safe, Serbian President Boris Tadic said Monday.
Speaking at a council meeting after the United States and major European Union powers recognized the former Serbian province as an independent state, Tadic reiterated that Serbia saw the secession as a violation of international law.
"If you cast a blind eye to this illegal act, who guarantees to you that parts of your countries will not declare independence in the same illegal way?" he told the 15-nation council.
"Who can guarantee that a blind eye will not be cast to the violation of the charter of the United Nations, which guarantees the sovereignty and integrity of each state, when your country's turn comes up?"
Serbia and its ally Russia, a veto-wielding Security Council member, have been urging the council to intervene against Kosovo's independence. But Moscow and Belgrade have failed to move the council due to Western support for Kosovo.
Stand on Kosovo?
The United States and Europe's leading powers said on Monday they were recognising the independence of Kosovo, a day after the majority Albanian territory seceded from Serbia.
Serbia opposes the move, as does Russia. Germany said 17 of the European Union's 27 members would take a quick decision on recognition.
Here is a list of countries which have declared their intentions.
Recognise:
Afghanistan—Afghanistan said on Monday that it recognized and supported Kosovo as an independent country.
Albania—Prime Minister Sali Berisha said Albania recognised Kosovo's independence. Albania has said it will help
the new state's economy by giving access to its Adriatic ports.
Britain—Foreign Minister David Miliband announced on Monday that Britain will recognise the independence of Kosovo.
France—France recognised Kosovo's independence on Monday after European Union foreign ministers adopted a joint statement on the breakaway Serbian province's future. The EU vowed in a statement to work for stability in the region while leaving each member free to decide on recognising Kosovo's independence.
Germany—Germany said it will recognise the independence of Kosovo.
Italy—Massimo D'Alema, Italy's foreign minister, said on Monday it will recognise Kosovo as an independent state under international supervision.
Turkey—Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on Monday that Turkey had decided to recognise Kosovo as an independent state.
United States—The United States formally recognised Kosovo "as a sovereign and independent state", Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement on Monday.
Do Not Recognise:
Azerbaijan—Ex-Soviet Azerbaijan says it does not recognize Kosovo's independence.
EU Countries—Several EU countries, including Cyprus, Greece, Slovakia and Bulgaria, have indicated they will not recognise Kosovo now because of legal misgivings or concern about restive minorities in their own countries.
Romania—Romania says it will not recognise the independence of Kosovo, but will not block the EU's stance.
Spain—Spain, grappling with its own separatist movements, has vowed not to recognise the new state.
Vietnam—A non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, says it opposes the declaration of independence.
Tadic reaffirmed that Belgrade would not use force to prevent Kosovo from going its own way.
"As a responsible member of the international community, committed to the peaceful settlement of disputes, the republic of Serbia will not use force," he said.
An emergency council session Sunday called by Russia failed to bridge differences between Moscow, which agrees with Serbia that the declaration is illegal, and Western states that maintain independence is the only viable option.
Even though four months of talks between Pristina and Belgrade on the future status of Kosovo yielded no agreement by the time they ended in December 2007, both Russia and Serbia continue to demand a new round of negotiations.
The United States and most European Union member states say late Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's brutal suppression of Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians in the 1990s, which led to a 1999 NATO bombing campaign against Serbia, ensured that Kosovo would never again be ruled from Belgrade.
Tadic dismissed that argument as absurd.
"Today is February 2008, Slobodan Milosevic is there no more, and in 1999 when he was in power in Serbia, Kosovo was not granted independence," he said. "The Albanians worked actively for secession for decades even before ... Milosevic."
Kosovo has been under U.N. administration since 1999, when NATO troops were deployed there after the Western alliance bombed Serbia to compel it to stop killing and driving out Albanians in a counterinsurgency war.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the council the U.N. mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, would remain there.
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