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| Albania Dismisses Serbia's Claim on Kosovo in Constitution |
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Albania on Tuesday dismissed a provision of Serbia's new constitution which reaffirms the former Yugoslav republic's sovereignty over Kosovo. In a statement, the Albanian foreign ministry said Serbia put the new constitution to a referendum at a time when the international community is consulting on the final status of Kosovo. Such a move taken by Belgrade is "unilateral and unconducive to the solution of the issue (of Kosovo)," the statement said, adding that Tirana could not accept the provision. The new constitution, drafted after the dissolution of the union of Serbia and Montenegro, was cleared in a referendum held over the weekend. The legislation stipulates that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbian territory and Serbia has territorial sovereignty over the region. Kosovo, formerly an autonomous province of Serbia, has been under the administration of a UN special mission since June 1998 when Yugoslav troops left the region after months of NATO air strikes. Since then, thousands of NATO troops have stationed in Kosovo to provide security. Negotiations on the final status of Kosovo have been underway under the auspices of the United Nations since the end of 2005, but have as yet failed to achieve any substantive progress. Serbia hopes to maintain its sovereignty over Kosovo, where the ethnic Albanians, demand full independence of the region, located in southwestern Serbia. (Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2006)
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