Botsan-Kharchenko: West "pouring oil on fire" with German-French proposal

BELGRADE - Russian Ambassador to Belgrade Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko on Tuesday accused the West of "pouring oil on fire" by insisting on a French-German proposal for solving the Kosovo issue.

Noting that EU foreign policy and security chief Josep Borrell was "clearly alluding" that focus on the proposal was necessary at this time, Botsan-Kharchenko said that "by all accounts, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's public position on this is unimportant" to Borrell.

"In other words: the West has reduced tensions arising from the licence plates problem - which was generated artificially by Pristina - but it did not do so with the aim of normalising the situation in the province. It is now pouring oil on fire again," Botsan-Kharchenko said in a statement released by the Russian embassy.

He said the UN General Assembly had consented to EU facilitation in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, and noted that Brussels had not consulted UN member states before making the French-German plan a part of the dialogue agenda "so lightly and in such a commanding manner."

He also noted that the majority, or over 100 UN member states did not recognise Kosovo's "independence".

Commenting on a joint session of the assemblies of Albania and self-declared Kosovo, the ambassador said the EU had taken lightly the "alarming messages from Tirana", which he noted were in the spirit of the Greater Albania concept, glorifying the so-called "Kosovo Liberation Army" and its leaders accused of crimes against humanity.

"All in all, it seems that the EU's mediation activity has nothing in common with the honest broker role," Botsan-Kharchenko concluded.