ALBANIA: GOVERNMENT SAYS IT WILL OPPOSEINDEPENDENT RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPERS IN KOSOVO.
Record ID:
565780
ALBANIA: GOVERNMENT SAYS IT WILL OPPOSEINDEPENDENT RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPERS IN KOSOVO.
- Title: ALBANIA: GOVERNMENT SAYS IT WILL OPPOSEINDEPENDENT RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPERS IN KOSOVO.
- Date: 5th June 1999
- Summary: TIRANA, ALBANIA (JUNE 4, 1999)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/MV: BUILDING/ SOLDIER (2 SHOTS) 0.11 2. CU: SOUNDBITE (albanian with english translation) ALBANIAN PRIME MINISTER PANDELI MAJKO SPEAKS: "Any foreign military presence in Kosovo outside the control and management of NATO would establish a premise for permanent conflicts in the region and for the division of Kosovo. The government of Albania considers that the peacekeeping force in Kosovo should be under the unique command of NATO. But Albania is determined to oppose any Russian unit under an independent command in Kosovo. We are very close to the end of the conflict." (3 SHOTS) 2.01 3. GV: EXTERIOR 2.06 4. CU/GV: SOUNDBITE (albanian) KLA NEGOTIATOR JUKUP KRASNIQI SPEAKING, SAYING - THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF KOSOVO CANNOT ACCEPT ANY TROOPS TO BE UNDER INDEPENDENT COMMAND/ CUTAWAY/ THE KLA WILL ALWAYS COOPERATE WITH THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY BUT WE CANNOT LAY DOWN ARMS AT THE MOMENT AS LONG AS SERB TROOPS KEEP FIGHTING (4 SHOTS) 3.00 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 20th June 1999 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TIRANA, ALBANIA
- Country: Albania
- Reuters ID: LVA5O9YYXHRDAAXIYJW9JDUS03G8
- Story Text: Albania has insisted that all international
peacekeeping troops in Kosovo had to be under unified NATO
command and said it would oppose an independent Russian
element.
And a Kosovo Liberation army (KLA) member and
representative of the Kosovar government in exile, Jukup
Krasniqi, has said the KLA would not lay down arms until the
Serb forces stopped fighting.
"Any foreign military presence in Kosovo outside the
control and management of NATO would establish a premise for
permanent conflicts in the region and for the division of
Kosovo," Prime Minister Pandeli Majko told a news conference
in Friday (June 4).
"The government of Albania considers that the peacekeeping
force in Kosovo should be under the unique command of NATO,"
he added.
Majko said Albania welcomed Russia's contribution to
achieving a peace plan for Kosovo.
"But Albania is determined to oppose any Russian unit
under an independent command in Kosovo," he said.
Yugoslavia on Thursday accepted an international plan for
Kosovo envisaging a withdrawal of its forces from the disputed
southern province and deployment of an international force to
ensure the safe return of hundreds of thousands of ethnic
Albanians driven out by Serb forces.
NATO troops are intended to form the core of the
peacekeeping force, but Russian Balkans envoy Viktor
Chernomyrdin has said Russia's forces will be under separate
Russian command and will not take orders from NATO.
Majko, at 31 Europe's youngest prime minister, gave a
cautious welcome to the international peace plan, saying: "We
are very close to the end of the conflict."
At another news conference in Tirana, KLA representative
Jukup Krasniqi said the KLA would not lay down arms until the
Serb forces stopped fighting.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None