The South African government is still deciding whether to recognise Kosovo as an independent country, Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said on Monday.
Speaking in Pretoria she said the government still had to discuss Sunday’s declaration of independence by Kosovo from Serbia, and make a decision on recognition.
”Our government has to discuss it and see what the implications of all this [are],” she said.
It is expected that the decision would have to be taken soon as it would again be discussed by the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday afternoon.
South Africa is one of the 15 countries represented in the Security Council.
Kosovo on Sunday declared its independence from Serbia.
It has been under United Nations control since mid-1999, after a Nato air assault drove out Serbian forces waging a crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanian guerrillas and their civilian supporters.
Russia failed on Sunday to secure the backing of the Security Council for its call to declare the independence declaration ”null and void”.
On Tuesday afternoon, an open debate is planned by the Security Council, at Serbia’s request.
China ‘deeply concerned’
China, meanwhile, a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, said on Monday it was deeply concerned about Kosovo unilaterally declaring independence and urged both sides to continue negotiations.
”China expresses its deep concern about Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao said in a statement posted on its website.
”Kosovo’s unilateral act could produce a series of consequences that will lead to a seriously negative influence on peace and stability in the Balkan region and on the realisation of building a multi-ethnic society in Kosovo,” Liu said.
China, which faces independence movements in several regions, was ”deeply worried” about Kosovo’s declaration, the statement said, adding that the international community should create ”positive conditions” for peace and stability.
”All along China has deemed negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo to reach a mutually acceptable plan as the best way to resolve the Kosovo problem,” the central government said on its website.
The Chinese government urged its citizens to act with caution when travelling to the area.
An emergency UN Security Council meeting failed to agree on a plan for Kosovo, which is looking forward to recognition by the Western powers that went to war to save its Albanian majority.
Russia has served notice the new state will never be forced on its Serb allies in the territory.
Worrying precedent
For China, recognition would set a worrying precedent for its own territorial battles.
China and self-ruled Taiwan have faced off since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, and Beijing has warned of conflict if the democratic island formally declares independence.
It also faces separatist sentiments in its far-western regions of Xinjiang and Tibet and its ruling Communist Party brooks no challenge to its rule in the sometimes restive regions.
A spokesperson for Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said Taiwan wanted to build relations with Kosovo and may look at establishing formal diplomatic ties. Taiwan looks to its handful of diplomatic allies for legitimacy against China.
”Our consistent position is that we want to develop relations with any free and democratic country,” ministry spokesperson Phoebe Yeh said.
But China quickly hit back.
”It is known to all that Taiwan, as a part of China, has no right and qualification at all to make the so-called recognition,” Liu said in a posting on the Foreign Ministry’s website.
Two commentaries in the Beijing News, one of China’s bolder newspapers, offered differing perspectives on Kosovo.
One said that while Serbia must regret the loss of territory that was a part of its history, it was better to solve the problem ”through the growth and decline of the strength of the two sides than resort to violent conflict”.
”The blasting fuse of the Balkan powder keg has been removed,” it said.
But the second piece warned of the knock-on ”butterfly effect” of Kosovo’s declaration of independence, saying countries from Russia to Spain to Belgium would have to prepare for the ”negative impact” on their own separatist movements.
Sri Lanka concerned
Sri Lanka, fighting a 25-year insurgency by Tamil separatists, said it was concerned about Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence as it could set a precedent in other parts of the world and hurt nations.
”The unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo could set an unmanageable precedent in the conduct of international relations, the established global order of sovereign states and could thus pose a grave threat to international peace and security,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been fighting for an independent homeland for minority Tamils in the east and north of the island. More than 70 000 people have been killed since 1983.
Colombo has vowed to crush the rebels militarily.
”This action by Kosovo is a violation of the Charter of the United Nations, which enshrines the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states,” the statement said. – Reuters, Sapa