Izvor: N1 televizija, 12.Okt.2018, 15:03 (ažurirano 02.Apr.2020.)
Kosovo President's advisor quits over division plan
A foreign policy advisor to Kosovo’s President Hashim Thaci submitted his resignation saying he did not want to be a part of the suggested plan for the division of Kosovo, the FoNet news agency reported on Friday.
David Phillips told the Koha Ditore daily he had been working on Kosovo’s independence for over 30 years and that that is why he accepted to >> Pročitaj celu vest na sajtu N1 televizija << be an advisor in the Belgrade – Pristina dialogue.
Phillips said he trusted it was possible to reach an agreement to improve the rule of law and add to the international pressure on Serbia to recognise Kosovo as a state within the existing borders.
“Some people in Kosovo’s institutions are heading in a different direction. They accepted border correction by giving territory to Serbia,” Phillips said.
He added that neither the division of Kosovo nor the border correction was a good deal and that it would not lead to normalisation of relations with Belgrade.
According to Phillips, the advocates of the border correction believe that after that the European Union member states which haven’t recognised Kosovo’s independence will do that and that Washington will persuade Russia and China to agree to Pristina’s UN membership.
“There is no basis for such thinking. Moreover, the border correction is a historic betrayal of Kosovo’s people. It’s also potentially risky and could lead to violence,” Phillips added.
Phillips resignation came amid increasing criticism of Thaci’s idea of border correction from both ruling and opposition parties in Kosovo.
Though Thaci has denied any territory swap or division of Kosovo, but only the annexation of Serbia’s southern region mostly populated by the ethnic Albanians, it seems that there are not many people in Kosovo who believe that will be possible without giving something in return.
