Serb parliament adopts new constitution
By DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
BELGRADE, Serbia - Serbia's parliament formally adopted a new constitution on Wednesday reasserting Serbia's claim over Kosovo and ruling out possible independence for the predominantly ethnic Albanian province.
The constitution, which was approved in a popular referendum last month ,has stirred controversy with its preamble that refers to Kosovo as par tof Serbia, despite the province's current status as a U.N.-run protectorate and ongoing international negotiations aimed at determining its future.
Kosovo has been out of Serbia's control since 1999, when NATO air strikes forced Serbs to halt their brutal crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians in the province - a war that killed 10,000 people and drove thousands more from their homes
Belgrade has proposed broad autonomy for Kosovo, but the ethnic Albanian majority - comprising 90 percent of Kosovo's population - insists on full independence.
The International Crisis Group thinktank issued a report Wednesday saying that by adopting the new constitution, Serbia "is setting the stage to continue its generation-long role as a source of instability in the Balkans."
Nicholas Whyte, the organization's Europe program director, wrote in the report that the aim was to show Serbian hostility to Kosovo's independence and create new legal barriers against it.
"The government is playing a game of high-stakes bluff," he wrote.
The need for a new Serbian constitution arose in June after tiny Montenegro, a partner in the former Yugoslav federation, opted for sovereignty, leaving Serbia on its own for the first time since 1918.
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, considered the author of the constitution, praised the charter, saying its adoption "is a historic moment for Serbia."
© 2006 The Associated Press
BELGRADE, Serbia - Serbia's parliament formally adopted a new constitution on Wednesday reasserting Serbia's claim over Kosovo and ruling out possible independence for the predominantly ethnic Albanian province.
The constitution, which was approved in a popular referendum last month ,has stirred controversy with its preamble that refers to Kosovo as par tof Serbia, despite the province's current status as a U.N.-run protectorate and ongoing international negotiations aimed at determining its future.
Kosovo has been out of Serbia's control since 1999, when NATO air strikes forced Serbs to halt their brutal crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians in the province - a war that killed 10,000 people and drove thousands more from their homes
Belgrade has proposed broad autonomy for Kosovo, but the ethnic Albanian majority - comprising 90 percent of Kosovo's population - insists on full independence.
The International Crisis Group thinktank issued a report Wednesday saying that by adopting the new constitution, Serbia "is setting the stage to continue its generation-long role as a source of instability in the Balkans."
Nicholas Whyte, the organization's Europe program director, wrote in the report that the aim was to show Serbian hostility to Kosovo's independence and create new legal barriers against it.
"The government is playing a game of high-stakes bluff," he wrote.
The need for a new Serbian constitution arose in June after tiny Montenegro, a partner in the former Yugoslav federation, opted for sovereignty, leaving Serbia on its own for the first time since 1918.
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, considered the author of the constitution, praised the charter, saying its adoption "is a historic moment for Serbia."