Your Royal Highnesses,

Fellow Ministers,

Excellencies,

Your Grace,

Dear SUC Members,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Not too far east from here, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the first son of the earliest known Serbian immigrants to the United States was born. The year was 1863.

This little boy—his parents named him Jovan—went on to become a truly amazing man, a man of many firsts. He was the first Serb to be born in the New World. Then, after having been tonsured as a monk and given the name Sebastian, he was ordained a priest in 1892 right here in San Francisco, thereby becoming the first American-born Orthodox priest. Two years later, in 1894, he built and consecrated the first Serbian Orthodox Church in the Americas, in the then booming mining town of Jackson, CA.

Father Sebastian Dabovic later went on to organize Serbian communities across North America, founding the first Serbian churches in Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, etc.—even in far away Douglas, Alaska.

Let me say a few more words about this extraordinary Serb—the first American Serb—before I explain why I have chosen to begin my remarks to you this evening with a discussion about him.

The man our absent friend Bishop Irinej Dobrijevic has called “the father of Serbian Orthodoxy in America”, traveled to Serbia for the first time when he was over 50 years old, in 1917, during the First World War, to serve as a chaplain in the Serbian army. In the 1920s and 1930s, he went back and forth more than a dozen more times, before finally settling in Serbia for good in the mid 1930s. He spent his final years in Zica monastery, where he passed away in 1940. As you know, a few months ago, Father Sebastian Dabovic “returned” to his native land, and was interred within the very church in Jackson, California, he founded more than a century ago.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Notwithstanding his many accomplishments as a servant of the Church—there is some talk of canonization—I want to focus on Sebastian Dabovic the man, the American Serb.

Here was an individual truly dedicated to his community: the Serbian American community. You could even say he was its founder. Together with others, he built it up, kept it going, and laid a solid foundation for the future. By being actively present at the beginning, by bringing Serbs in America together, by establishing Serbian communities across this vast continent, and by keeping the ties with the homeland strong, he did us all a service that can never be repaid. In a way, his work is the reason we are all gathered here, in San Francisco, as a community. Thanks to his pioneering struggles, the Serbian-American community continues to flourish, to grow, to expand, and to pass on its history to the generations to come.

For more than a hundred years, a critical mass of Serbs in the Americas have chosen—chosen—not to fully assimilate, not to be completely absorbed into the melting pot of America. You have chosen to remain Serbs, to retain the ties to your homeland. And I want to say to you as clearly as I can that your homeland is grateful to you.

It has not always been easy, for your homeland has not always showed its gratitude to you and your valiant efforts. At the beginning, you were benignly neglected. Later, during communism, the home country saw you more as an opponent than as a partner. Late still, starting in the mid 1980s, false prophets came to your communities and spoke myths to you, painted illusory pictures for you, and made promises to you they could not keep.

They tarnished the image you had of your homeland. And they brought unprecedented misery to their own citizens back in Serbia. Many of you were gravely disillusioned. But all the while, you persevered, and you did not give up. And you kept your identity, helping to ensure your community kept on growing. I admire all of you for that, for it required a lot of effort and sacrifice.

And ultimately, when we really needed you, you helped us with a generosity of spirit rarely seen in the home country at that time. Your solidarity in 1999, and your support in 2000, helped us to overthrow the last dictator of the Balkans.

Again, I say, your homeland is grateful to you.

My Friends,

Since the peaceful overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic on October 5^th, 2000—an event “recorded in golden letters in the annals of our history,” as His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Alexander fittingly put it—much has been accomplished, but much remains to be done.

Our young, fledgling democracy has suffered severe setbacks—most notably the assassination of the engine of our democratic changes, Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic.

Perhaps our greatest accomplishment—as a post-conflict and post-communist society re-establishing its rightful place in the center of the region’s affairs—has been not to yield to the dangerous urge to retreat back into self-imposed isolation. In contrast to the past, Serbian democracy faces the challenges head on. We channel our justifiable pride in the past into making and executing plans for the future. A fine example of this new, 21^st century democratic Serbian spirit is the inspiring work that our Minister for the Diaspora, Milica Cubrilo, has been doing to rebuild bridges between the diaspora and the homeland.

____

Friends, in perhaps as few as five years, Serbia will be a member of the European Union. Certainly, the pursuit of this fundamentally important goal is the central priority of the Government of Serbia. The incentives provided by the promise of EU membership will, I am confident, enable us, in the years ahead, to fully consolidate our democratic institutions, reconcile with our neighbors, further develop our economy, bring our living standards up to European levels, and reform our social safety-net.

There is just one more obstacle, one more challenge, to overcome on the road to a secure, prosperous future. And it’s a big one. It’s so big that it threatens all the gains we have made since democracy was restored. That challenge is the future status of Kosovo and Metohija.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The talks on the future status of our southern province are in a very delicate phase. Our future—and the future of all the Western Balkans—hangs in the balance.

In the time I have left, I would like to provide you with a snapshot of where we are in the future status process, share with you what Serbia has offered to the Kosovo Albanians, and give you my thoughts on where we are headed.

When the United Nations Secretary General appointed former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari as his Special Envoy for the Kosovo future status process, we all hoped that future status talks—leading to a negotiated, compromise settlement—would begin in earnest. But we were disappointed. Over the course of close to 16 months, Mr. Ahtisaari chose to schedule only several hours of direct talks on the one question that truly matters: the question of what Kosovo’s future status—its legal standing—would actually look like. His Report to the UN recommending “supervised independence” was unacceptable. It not only failed to accurately reflect the substance of the negotiation process on so-called “status-neutral” issues—such as the scope of local powers to Serbian municipalities—but it also failed to responsibly consider the central issue of status itself.

Serbia rejected the Ahtisaari Report’s recommendation, and, together with the Contact Group, decided on a new format for negotiations—real, substantive face-to-face negotiations between Serbs and Albanians, facilitated by a Troika composed of senior representatives from the European Union, the Russian Federation and the United States. The role of the Troika was conceived to be that of an honest broker between Belgrade and Pristina—to help us reach a compromise, mutually acceptable solution to Kosovo’s future status—a status that would then be endorsed by the United Nations Security Council.

Three rounds of direct negotiations have been held, but little progress has been made. The reason is not difficult to understand. The Troika set December 10^th as a deadline for the successful completion of the talks. And some key participants in the process are telling
both sides that Kosovo’s independence will be imposed on the parties if no agreement is reached by then.

Now put yourself in Pristina’s shoes. With a set deadline and a default position that fulfills their maximalist demands, what incentive do they have to negotiate in good faith? Why not just sit back, look interested, wait out the clock, and stick around for the mother of all Christmas presents to be delivered at their door?

Serbia’s response has been to say that, paradoxical as it may seem, only the setting of no firm deadlines can concentrate minds in both Belgrade and Pristina to come to a negotiated, mutually-acceptable solution. By re-defining the December 10^th deadline as a marker for assessing progress—and by embracing the view that there is nothing more important than reaching an agreement acceptable to all—we would create, for the first time, an environment in which a historical deal can be crafted.

Encouragingly, as we approach the deadline, more and more countries involved in the process have understood this line of reasoning. There is a growing awareness of the importance of constructing a more appropriate negotiating framework in which a legitimate deal can be struck.

____

I remain cautiously optimistic that the vision, courage, and boldness necessary to forge a historic compromise between Serbs and Albanians is there, just below the surface, waiting to harnessed. Serbia is ready—truly ready—to be a sincere partner in a peace that brings prosperity to all.

A peace, in other words, that overcomes the differences between us, that enables not just Serbs and Albanians, but all the nations in the Western Balkans, to end up on the same side. The side of Europe and its democratic values. That is why this past September, in New York, President Tadic emphasized the crucial importance of fundamentally transforming the relationship between Serbs and Albanians—from one of historical suspicion and antagonism, to one of 21^st-century trust and cooperation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The framework of the strategic settlement that we have offered is straightforward. It must fully conform to the principles of international law enshrined in documents such as the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act. This means that the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia must be maintained. But Serbia’s offer also recognizes the legitimate right of Kosovo’s Albanian community to autonomously administer their own affairs. This is why we have offered them wide-ranging institutional concessions—extraordinarily broad powers of self-governance.

In short, we have offered them a uniquely crafted partnership for the future under one common sovereign roof.

This future must be rooted in a categorical rejection of violence, which must not be present at any stage of the process. Failure to reject violence means denying the credibility, the legitimacy, of the other side in the common quest for peace. It means embracing the view that neither side wins by seeking to maximize narrowly conceived objectives, but we both win by working together to consolidate a shared future.

____

I believe that there has never been a more opportune time for Serbs and Albanians to come together, as partners, in peace and reconciliation. I have already alluded to why I think this is the case: the democratic reconstruction of the Western Balkans, and the region’s European future.

These two transformative trends—democracy and integration—give us hope. We must harness that hope. And we must embrace the possibilities and the vision that this hope is revealing to those with eyes to see. And we must use the time to come wisely, prudently, and boldly. Our future depends on the success to come.

Dear Friends,

Serbia is dedicated to remain a regional source of stability and security in a time of political transformation.

I leave you with the August 2002 words of Zoran Djindjic to a group representing Serbs from the diaspora. This is what he said: “Since October 5^th, Serbia has restored her faith, her self-respect, and her dignity. Now you can once more exclaim with pride where your roots are. Our task now is to make life peaceful for everyone in our lands, and we need your help. Your know-how, your experience, and your aspirations can only help us get to the future faster.”

That task is before us still. To that end, I congratulate the members of the new Board of Directors on your election. Your homeland looks forward to working with you all. So we can all get to the future faster.

Thank you very much for your attention—for your kind invitation to address you tonight—and for your warm welcome. Thank you for your inspiration. And God bless.

President Anastasopoulos,

Director General Matsura,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour to address the 34^th General Conference of UNESCO.

The Republic of Serbia continues to uphold the enduring role of UNESCO: to construct an impregnable defense of peace in the minds of men and women through the bridging of differences and the promotion of our common heritage.

Only when we come to look at diversity as a source of strength—only when we embrace the view that individual cultures genuinely prosper and progress when they come into contact with other cultures—can we say that the tide has inexorably turned in favour of peace, human rights, and a common sense of destiny.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thanks in part to the support and dedication of UNESCO’s Centre for World Heritage, Serbia is home to a number of World Heritage Sites.

Four of these sites—all those that are located in Serbia’s southern province of Kosovo and Metohija, under United Nations administration since June 1999—were placed in 2006 on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger. Far from serving as a bridge of connection, Serbia’s heritage in the province remains the focus of Kosovo Albanian apprehension and hostility. Tragically, more than 150 other Serbian churches and monasteries have been destroyed in the past eight years, including 35 during the March 2004 pogrom against Serbs in Kosovo.

To destroy what those before you have built, in the conviction that you thereby erase the truth of it ever having been there, is an act of supreme inhumanity—of cultural cleansing.

In Kosovo as everywhere else, peace must not be allowed to be built on the ashes of destroyed heritage.

For reconciliation and peace is not the simple result of a unification of likeness; it requires the offering and accepting of the gift of difference.

Allow me therefore to recognize the personal engagement of Director General Matsura, and to particularly thank Italy, Greece and the Czech Republic, together with the European Union and the Council of Europe, for their to help restore and conserve the Serbian heritage in Kosovo and Metohija. I can assure you that Serbia’s Ministry of Culture, together with our National Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church, will expand their cooperation with the international community—in order to more effectively implement the preservation and restoration of Serbian heritage sites in Kosovo and Metohija.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Republic of Serbia is negotiating the future status of Kosovo and Metohija on the basis of the very values that bind us all to one another as human beings—values such as the quest for peace and justice. This is why we have offered Kosovo’s Albanian community a wide degree of autonomy in the conduct of their internal affairs. Our generous offer of substantial self-governance is designed to respect and promote their unique contribution to the fabric of our society, while respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country, in line with international law. I refer here to the United Nations Charter and the Helsinki Final Act, among others.

We believe that only such a compromise solution can pave the way toward the more rapid integration of not only Serbia but all the Western Balkans into the European Union, a strategic imperative for all of us. And we believe that only such a compromise solution—a solution that embraces the concept of a common sovereign roof—can consolidate regional democracy, enhance security, promote cultural diversity, and deliver sustainable prosperity to the entire region.

Excellencies,

In conclusion, I would like to state that the Republic of Serbia supports the adoption of the Executive Board’s programme recommendations and budget. Serbia’s Delegation will continue to positively contribute to the building of consensus on these and other issues before the General Conference. We support the new programme evaluation mechanisms, and pledge to do our utmost to ensure that the proposed programme is implemented in its entirety.

In furtherance of our support for the Programme of the Medium-Term Strategy, it is my pleasure to announce Serbia’s intent to host a forthcoming annual summit of Southeast European heads of state on the topic of cultural heritage.

Moreover, the Republic of Serbia reaffirms its support for two of UNESCO’s most important priorities: Africa and gender equality. My country’s record in promoting Africa’s sustainable development in the post-colonial period speaks for itself. And the legislative and social achievements we have made in joining the European mainstream on the rights of women are noteworthy.

Finally, the Republic of Serbia will continue to contribute to the protection and preservation of world, regional and national heritage, heritage located in the developing world, heritage in danger, as well as heritage in post-conflict or disaster-affected areas.

I am proud of my country’s dedication to press forward our promotion of cultural diversity and fight against cultural cleansing. For the tangible and intangible achievements of the more than 6000 cultural communities that span the globe are the most precious treasure of humankind. They make up the “infinite tapestry of distinctions, nuance and change” of the world, in the words of our Director General. Protecting and enhancing these achievements of man is the great task before us all. For they constitute a foundation of identity, a basis of development, a tool of reconciliation, and an instrument of peace.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Excellencies,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends,

Thank you, Elaine, for that truly moving introduction. After listening to your words, I feel like I’ve returned home after a long journey to a faraway land. In a way I guess that’s actually true.

Now try to imagine that you came from half a world away, back to the place that changed your life. And that as hard as you try, you can never return to those two years which so profoundly helped to form you—to those two years that made you into who you are today.

The fire in the hearth just doesn’t crackle like it used to. But it still warms your heart and nourishes your soul like nowhere else on earth. It is home and it isn’t home.

I almost sound as though I’m giving a commencement or homecoming address, don’t I? I guess it’s unavoidable, for I’m trying to find a way to build a bridge between my past and my present.

____

Those of you who are students at the Kennedy School should always try to be aware of how fortunate you are to be here. And you should try to live in the moment, to really feel the experience. Because when it’s gone, it’s gone for good. There is no going back.

But in a more profound way, Harvard will always stay with you, for the education you receive will serve as your surest signposts along the path you will chart for yourselves.

The fraternity of the mind to which you are being exposed, and the friendships you are making, will, in all likelihood, fundamentally transform you.

Thanks to the Kokkalis Foundation at the Kennedy School, I got the opportunity to learn of the importance of leaving a stamp on the world. And learned about the nobility of devoting myself to public service, to the public interest. And perhaps most importantly, I acquired a profound respect for those who will never get the chance to get a world-class education.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Leaders are the shapers of the future. The Kennedy School gives you the right tools and the proper moral compass, to make the right decisions, to establish the right rules, and to reduce your doubts—as you work to ennoble the community you serve through your leadership.

Now, Harvard can’t give you ability. That you have or you don’t. Sure, Harvard can teach you to harness your ability—and this institution can do it better than most. But that’s not what makes it unique. What makes Harvard unique—and this applies to the Kennedy School in particular—is that it gives you the tools to envisage and plan the change. And it gives you the tools to see change through, to implement your vision, to make the improbable—something even revolutionary—possible.

____

Standing on this very stage five years ago exactly, the engine of the democratic overthrow of the tyrant Milosevic, our assassinated prime minister Dr. Zoran Djindjic, defined leadership in the contemporary Serbian context.

On that day, Prime Minister Djindjic compared leading the drive to change Serbia to surgery. “You cannot conduct surgery without pain,” he added. And in transitions, anesthetic is seldom available. The majority will be in pain, and they will always feel it. And that means that the majority will not love you. He remarked: “If you want to be loved in difficult situations, you will miss the opportunity to do what you should do.”

To lead in difficult times means that you choose either success or popularity. Djindjic chose success, he chose to implement his vision of the future. He chose to change his country—my country. And in so doing, he became deeply unpopular.

But those who had the most to lose from his efforts—the warmongers he overthrew—felt his success. They saw around the corner of history and figured out just how popular he was destined to become.

And their agents killed him to try and keep the future from us all.

But the vision of a democratic, European and prosperous Serbia did not die with him. We’re still here, and, for the moment, we still keep winning elections. And I’ll tell you why. Because we are in the right, because history is on our side, and because we’re implementing the vision of our assassinated prime minister. Perhaps not as fast as we’d like, but we’re doing the best we can—we’re still moving forward.

And that brings me to Prime Minister Djindjic’s image of post-Milosevic Serbia as a bicycle in motion. When I was writing the remarks for today, I tried to recall what he meant exactly.

I remember he once told me that a bicycle can be stable only in movement. If you look at your pedaling feet, you loose your balance and fall down. So riding a bike requires a kind of leap of faith. You’ve got to watch the road ahead and not concentrate on your feet. Trust the laws of physics, if you will. If you “stop to move”—his term—that’s no good either. Because you won’t be moving, and that’s a tamer, less harmful version of falling down. But the effect is the same: you don’t go forward.

You have to move, and to do so successfully, you have to look ahead. You have to stay on track. You have to look to the future.

So leadership is really about seizing, harnessing the future that’s coming at you. And you have to deal with it. You have to master the change that the future brings by planting trees of hope. Well, Zoran planted for Serbia. And it’s our solemn duty to water those seedlings, to nurture them, and cultivate them. Anything less, and his murderers and their followers win the battle that remains: the battle for the soul of the Balkans.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I arrived at Harvard in early September 2001. I walked around Cambridge a lot in those first few days, and along the Charles. I moved into my graduate apartment, purchased textbooks, made a few friends, shopped for furniture, filled the fridge. The usual.

One day, early in the semester during a class, an international student received a text message from a friend back home. He stood up, right in the middle of the seminar, and began to read it aloud.

“The twin towers have collapsed,” he exclaimed. The class burst out in disbelieving laughter. And then someone else’s phone rang, and someone else’s after that, and a silent senselessness enveloped the room. We were all so shocked. No one could think of anything to say.

Later that day, in Dunster House, someone put up what Robert Kennedy had said about democracy, and it has stayed with me ever since. “Democracy requires that we take the chances of freedom. It requires that the liberating play of reason be brought to bear on events filled with passion; that dissent be allowed to make its appeal for acceptance; that men chance error in their search for the truth.”

Well, those who planned and executed 9/11 and all other acts of terror fear the future and distrust the present. They disavow reason, believing that passion is the entryway to truth, and that the past that truly never was, is the passageway to the future that will never be. They take no chances with freedom. They murder, they hate, and they destroy.

Thankfully, in the Balkans, the scourge of terrorism is not as present as it is in some other parts of the world. Those who murdered and hated and destroyed used other means, no less despicable. They fell off the ladder of power the day we overthrew Milosevic, but they’re eager to step back on. They still lurk in the shadows, plotting their own return.

But make no mistake, they will be defeated. They and their awful deeds belong to the previous century, and they will not reign in this one.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

President Boris Tadic of Serbia has said that the future will belong to those who can blend passion, reason and courage into a democratic whole. That’s not easy, because the Western Balkans inherited a truly burdensome legacy. Incredibly, notwithstanding the encumbrance of this bequest, we have taken the right path: the path of democracy, the path of regional cooperation and reconciliation, the path to membership in the European Union.

As the pivot country of the Western Balkans, much depends on the success of Serbia. If we succeed, the region is almost guaranteed to follow, to the benefit of all.

But the particularity of the Western Balkans is that the success of one is accompanied by the envy of others. This means that we’ve all got to succeed at the same time. All the Western Balkans, together, joining the very hands that a few years ago had been at each other’s throats. That is what Balkan democracy, incentivized by the promise of Europe, can produce.

What we don’t have is the luxury of time. The window of opportunity won’t stay open forever. We have to play catch-up. For while we descended into civil war, the rest of the continent worked to expand the sphere of peace in Europe.

That’s why I have proposed that the European Union provides us with a clearer roadmap to membership for the entire region. I strongly believe that this could become the democratic glue that would bind the region’s countries to one another as never before in our tumultuous history. So we can rise up together, and succeed together. And in this way contribute to the construction of a Europe truly whole, free, and at peace.

Concretely, Serbia proposes that the EU offers immediate candidate status to all the countries of the Western Balkans.

Putting such an offer on the Balkan table would fundamentally transform the political debate throughout the region. It would concretize the promise made at the EU Thessaloniki Summit in 2003, where the perspective of the Balkans in Europe was first clearly mentioned. And it would provide a safe, democratic framework within which a cooperative future could be built.

Had such a proposal been offered to the region during Djindjic’s lifetime, I think we would have already gotten to the light at the end of the tunnel to Europe. Maybe it would have even kept him alive. I don’t know. What is more certain is that we wouldn’t be facing a regional malaise—a malaise rooted in a profound sense that we in the Balkans lack a feeling of imminent belonging to Europe.

My Dear Friends,

This feeling is rendered more acute by the way in which the question of the future status of Kosovo and Metohija is being dealt with.

Handled the wrong way, there is a very real danger that the entire region could swell up into a wave of discontent. I would characterize this danger as the eight hundred pound gorilla—the gorilla standing beside us in the antechamber to Europe.

But it seems as though no one is cognizant of just how badly things could go. “Keep the gorilla happy, and everything will be alright in the Balkans” some might say—forgetting it seems that even a gorilla at ease can wreck havoc just by the swing of an arm.

The way forward lies not in keeping the gorilla happy, but in leading it out of the room. We must prevent now—not try to contain later—the dangerous consequences that getting Kosovo wrong could produce.

How to proceed?

Let’s be honest, I do not believe that the question of whether Kosovo receives independence or substantial autonomy makes most countries’ list of top ten foreign policy priorities. And I think that—in all frankness—the question of the survival of Serbian democracy per se does not make it either.

But what likely does make most top ten lists is securing an outcome that consolidates the recent democratic gains made in the Western Balkans—an outcome that secures EU membership for all the countries of the region—the last un-integrated corner of Europe. For that would be a strategic achievement.

So then the question becomes, how do we do that? What’s the optimal trajectory?

We do this by putting the welfare and the stability of the entire region in the center of our thinking on how to solve Kosovo the right way. No one sides with Belgrade or Pristina. Rather, everyone works together to overcome the differences between the parties so that all the countries of the Western Balkans get to be on the same side. The side of Europe and its democratic values.

Earlier I spoke of the particularity of the Western Balkans. The success of one is accompanied by the envy of others. Where there’s a winner, there’s a loser. And then the loser spends the next God-knows-how-many-years just waiting for the moment to right the historical wrong. That solves nothing. Quite the opposite: it just prolongs the tragedy.

So whatever the solution to Kosovo’s future status, we have to make sure no one loses. That means maximalist positions can’t be allowed to prevail.

Now, the problem comes down to this: Some in the international community have told Belgrade and Pristina that they will impose the province’s independence on Serbia and the region if we don’t come to an agreement by December 10^th.

So tell me, with a set deadline and a default position that fulfills their maximalist demands, what incentive do the Kosovo Albanians have to negotiate in good faith? Why not just sit back, look engaged, wait out the clock, and stick around for the mother of all Christmas presents to be delivered at their door?

Paradoxical as it may sound, setting no firm deadlines will concentrate minds in both Belgrade and Pristina to come to a compromise, mutually-acceptable solution. One that secures the region’s prosperous, democratic future inside the European Union. And one that both respects the territorial integrity of Serbia, while enabling the Kosovo Albanians to satisfy their legitimate demand for substantial self-government. Belgrade and Pristina, together with the international community, have to come together and lead the proverbial gorilla out of the room.

I say all this because imposing the independence of Kosovo on the Western Balkans is nothing other than the forcible partition of Serbia. A precedent will have been made—the precedent that says the international borders of democracies are not sacrosanct.

Serbian democracy will likely suffer a fatal, generational blow as a consequence of losing what even the tyrant Milosevic preserved. Don’t forget, the terms of peace that ended the 1999 conflict, the terms of peace imposed by NATO on a defeated and isolated tyrant, explicitly reaffirmed my country’s sovereignty over Kosovo.

“So what?”, someone could say, “if Serbia’s democracy is sent into a tail spin?” Well, Belgrade is the metropolitan center of the region. If Serbia falters, there is a real danger that the Western Balkans could get hurled back to the 1990s, because other borders would be called into question again.

The region could return to division and strife—and hatred, and terrible misery. Throughout the Western Balkans, stability would not take root, democracy would be undermined, and prosperity would remain illusive.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Those of us in Serbia who are committed to engaging with our neighbors, with our friends, partners and allies—those of us who are struggling to consolidate the values and institutions of democracy in our country—face profound questions. Our citizens ask us, “was the 1999 NATO intervention against Milosevic or the Serbian people? And if it was against Milosevic, then why do the democracies that say they are our friends want Serbian democracy to pay for Milosevic’s crimes?” And I have no answer to give to them.

And because there is no answer to give, Milosevic’s nationalistic inheritors could say to them, “Europe is not the way forward.” They could say, “America is not our friend.” They may even be saying, “democracy is not the solution.” And it will not be too difficult for them to portray Brussels and Washington as the imposers of national humiliation and profound injustice.

John F. Kennedy said that international relations should be conducted on the basis of “idealism without illusions.” To me, that means that all examinations of political affairs must begin by seeing them as they are, not as we would like them to be. Only by understanding the situation as it is, can we work, through prudent action, to move it in a direction more in line with our values and our interests.

So believe me when I tell you that we are under no illusions as to the difficulty of the task before us: to bring together compromise and principle, to consolidate regional democracy, security and stability. To create a unified Western Balkans through peaceful means, a Western Balkans moving rapidly toward European integration.

But the idealism is there too. It is captured perfectly by the words of Robert Kennedy upon hearing of the death of Martin Luther King. “Let us dedicate ourselves,” he said, “to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.”

It has fallen to this generation of leaders in the Western Balkans to make life in the region gentle—to secure the peace, the democratic peace with honor that has never before been made in the Western Balkans. It is up to us to succeed where so many before us have failed.

Thank you very much for your attention, and your warm welcome.

“Serbia’s Path to Europe
Through Regional Peace and Reconciliation”

Remarks Delivered to Chatham House

by H.E. Mr. Vuk Jeremić
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia

London, 18 September 2007

Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,

It is a privilege to be able to speak at Chatham House this afternoon.

When I was a student in this country, I used to come here to listen to speakers from around the world discuss the most pressing matters of state.

I was always impressed by the quality and candor of the conversations that ensued, and attributed it largely to the environment of frankness for which Chatham House is rightly renowned.

Those occasions were formative ones for me. They helped shape my strategic thinking, and they helped me better understand the complexities of the contemporary world.

After one such occasion at Chatham House, when I came back home, I wrote the following in my notebook:
“We must begin all examinations of political affairs by seeing them as they are, not as we would like them to be. Only by understanding the situation as it is, can we work, through prudent action, to move it in a direction more in line with our interests. But this must presuppose that we properly understand our interests—something which cannot be done without a measured comprehension of our realistic capacity to act.”

I was thinking about Serbia as I wrote these words, and about the awful predicament my country was then in. We have come a long way since then. But we have not yet fully gotten ourselves out of the geo-strategic hole dug in the 1990s. There is still some way to go.

And so I believe that it is the present task of all stakeholders in the future prosperity of the Western Balkans to work together on consolidating a peace acceptable to all—a just, comprehensive peace designed to bring lasting stability.

Securing such a peace in our region, the last un-integrated corner of Europe, is the subject of my remarks to you this afternoon.

How to secure this peace is the strategic imperative informing my country’s regional policy approach—an approach leading to the construction of Europe truly whole, permanently free, and forever at peace.
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I want to discuss two pre-requisites to securing such a peace. The first is reconciliation. All the countries of the region—all the nations of the Western Balkans—must commit to genuine reconciliation.

At the heart of this commitment lies full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. For Serbia, there is no dilemma: we are dedicated to locating, arresting, and handing-over the few Hague indictees still at-large.

Reconciliation is both an end in itself, and an instrument for the achievement of something more.

It is an end in itself because it corrects a twisted view of the other side—a view that to some extent continues to permeate the cultures of all the nations of the Western Balkans. This view teaches that an eye for an eye is a legitimate form of conduct against one’s neighbour in times of discontent. And thus for centuries, a tragic cycle of violence has played itself out throughout the Western Balkans in a way that calls to mind the Nietzschean phrase “the eternal recurrence of the same.”

Reconciliation is meant, therefore, to teach our children that all others have as much a right to live and work and be happy as oneself.

Equally, reconciliation provides a democratic moral framework—a framework through which the crimes of individuals who falsely acted in the name of their nation are to be understood. It is a moral undertaking whose completion will be a clear-cut demonstration that we have internalized the values of the Europe we aim to join. For reconciliation is about telling the truth—the unadorned, factual, horrible truth of the carnage that must never return to the shores of Europe.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The second pre-requisite to securing a just peace in the Western Balkans is a clear roadmap to full membership in the European Union for the entire region.

In the Western Balkans, where the wounds are still healing, a clear and unambiguous European perspective may provide the democratic glue that could bind the region’s countries to one another as never before in our tumultuous history.

And so it is high time for the journey that began at Thessaloniki in 2003—where the future of the Balkans in the European Union was first clearly stated—to move to a next, more concrete stage.

“Wait,” one could say. “Things are underway. Everything is fine. The plan is working. We have the Stabilisation and Association Process. Serbia will initial it soon, and most of the other countries in the region have signed it already. What seems to be the problem? Just follow the procedures and keep walking down the road. Eventually you’ll get there.”

Well, eventually, someone will, I hope. But it may well be someone from a next generation.

So I tell you that if things continue being as they are, we may get to the end of the road we are currently on mighty fast. But we wouldn’t be anywhere but at a crossroads. To one side, we would come to a tunnel entrance that leads to Europe.

It would certainly appear to us to be a long tunnel. And from where we would be standing, the light at the other end would seem much too faint. No one would know how much gas there would be left in the tank. We might just end up having to stop half way. And who could know how long it would take to get us moving again?

Standing at that crossroads, we could, alternatively, choose to go in the other direction. But that would be tantamount to going back from where we came, because when the future doesn’t clearly beckon, the past likely prevails.

Let me be clear. I don’t mean going back to the recent past of civil war and ethnic cleansing. That’s not really in the cards, because even the most extreme political forces in the region know that such a radical return to the past would be akin to committing collective suicide.

Rather, I mean going back to an atmosphere that would be, overall, a retrograde one: something like a retreat into self-imposed isolation founded on the perception that seclusion is better than uncertainly and humiliation.

The operative image here is a cave, as in the place you go to for shelter when you retreat from the world around you.

If things continue as they are, we will shortly come to such crossroads. And from there, one way leads to a long, dark tunnel, the other, to a falsely-welcoming cave.

Let me be even more frank. Notwithstanding the fact that our transitional democracies haven’t always made full use of the opportunities on offer, that fact that the men of yesterday now scheme their return is in large part due to a present lack of boldness and vision in Europe.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Think back to Thessaloniki and the sense of purpose we all felt then. The Western Balkans was at the center of European attention. We were given a powerful pointer in the right direction. But the opportunity was not seized by all: the visionary words spoken—and the commitments made—did not translate into implementable policies.

Simply stated, after Thessaloniki, the necessary consolidation of an atmosphere of imminent belonging to Europe did not take place. Tangible benefits were not felt.

In fact, all that was left, when the euphoric dust had settled, was a bureaucratic checklist designed to measure the Lilliputian steps of progress toward membership.

Think about it: does, for example, the process of harmonizing national legislation with the acquis communautaire make the average citizen, the average voter, feel like he or she belongs to something greater? Can he or she really be expected to believe the politicians who speak of a light at the end of such a tunnel?

What is lacking, to use an American term, is an effective hearts and minds strategy.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today’s democratic decisions in our countries are still hostage to a future with no clear European deadline. How can we fundamentally change this state of affairs? How can we get rid of the malaise that we find ourselves in? How, in other words, can we secure the region’s democratic—and European—future?
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Well, “success is the child of audacity”, Disraeli once remarked. And the moment of audacity is at hand.

Europe can help the Western Balkans by an offer of immediate EU candidacy status to all the region’s countries. That’s what we propose.

This doesn’t mean a short-cut to membership. But it means a hands-on engagement. Turn up the brightness of the light at the end of the tunnel, give us a little more gas, and get in the car with us. That’s what we propose.

If this happens, there would be no more business as usual in the Balkans. The political debate would be transformed. Hope would take the place of fear. Reason would have an equal chance to trump passion. And historical limbo would be replaced by clarity of purpose.

The future could finally overcome the past. The point of no return would finally be crossed.
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Of course, as we know quite well, Europe is not a perfect construct. It does not solve all of life’s problems. Differences will always remain. But the offer of EU membership would provide a safe, democratic framework within which these differences could be dealt with.

By offering the countries of the Western Balkans immediate candidate status, Europe would restore the visionary spirit of Thessaloniki, and return the region to a place of prominence in Europe’s strategic thinking.
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That is why we ask for your support. Now is the time to be bold and audacious, to reaffirm commitments made, and to redouble the valiant efforts undertaken so far.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The task of consolidating a regional peace acceptable to all cannot be accomplished without overcoming the challenge of finding a compromise, negotiated solution to the future status of Serbia’s southern province of Kosovo and Metohija.

Some believe that the key to securing peace in the Western Balkans is to force a democratic Serbia to accept something that no country in the world—and certainly no democracy—could accept. And, on top of that, to do so notwithstanding the fact that the terms of peace, if I may put it that way, that ended the 1999 conflict, the terms of peace imposed by NATO on a defeated and isolated tyrant, did not do.

The documents of peace—the Kumanovo Military-Technical Agreement followed by UN Security Council Resolution 1244—explicitly reaffirmed my country’s sovereignty over Kosovo.

Contrast that with what some are telling us and the Kosovo Albanians at present. They say that they will impose the province’s independence on us if we don’t come to an agreement by December 10th.

So tell me, with a set deadline and a default position that fulfills their maximalist demands, what incentive do the Kosovo Albanians have to negotiate in good faith? Why not just wait out the clock?

I submit to you that, paradoxical as it may sound, setting no firm deadlines will concentrate minds in both Belgrade and Pristina to come to a compromise, mutually-acceptable solution. One that secures the region’s prosperous future inside the European Union, through the creation of an atmosphere of imminent belonging to Europe. Of belonging to the values and the rules of the European game—rules that say that differences are bridged through a process of deliberate, patient, and sustained negotiations. And rules that a priori dismiss any threats of violence on the part of a party to the dispute if its opening position is not accepted by the others. For in Europe, violence is not a legitimate option.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Imposing the independence of Kosovo on us is nothing other than the forcible partition of Serbia.

Does anyone in this room think it’s reasonable to expect that our democracy will not suffer a severe blow by losing what even the tyrant Milosevic preserved? What legitimacy would we have? And how could such a precedent—imposed on the pivot country of the region—not affect the peaceful and dynamic development of all the Western Balkans, a result tied so intimately to the region’s EU membership prospects?

So when a democratic Serbia tells you that imposing a maximalist solution—a solution that satisfies only one side, is a mortal threat to our democracy and the region’s prospects for a European future—we expect you to hear us, and we expect you to stop perceiving us as the descendants of Milosevic. For we are his patriotic overthrowers, not his nationalist inheritors.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I leave you with the words of Edmund Burke: “All acts of Government—indeed, every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue and every prudent act—is founded on compromise and negotiations.”

To enjoy the benefits of a secure and stable peace—one that makes real the European membership prospect of prosperity for all—we must compromise, and we must negotiate. In good faith. With no pre-determined outcomes. With no time limits. And resulting in no winners and losers. In a way that puts the welfare and the stability of the entire region in the center of the process.

A successful outcome to such a process will be the victory of a true and just peace. It will be the victory of Europe. And it will be the ultimate victory of the values that overthrew the tyrant—the tyrant who wreaked havoc over all of us for much too long—the tyrant who is no longer, but whose deeds still haunt us all.

Thank you.

Mr. President,

Distinguished Guests,

Excellencies,

Dear Friends,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to greet you warmly, and am honored to be the first Foreign Minister of the Republic of Serbia in history to visit this extraordinary country—a country that has traditionally offered an outstretched hand to all who seek peace in the world on the basis of mutual respect and benefit, equality, non-aggression, international stability, and friendship.

I want to assure you that Serbia is one such country, and will lay-out for you this morning the way we view the international system and our place in it, as well as discuss our relations with the friendly People’s Republic of China. I will then touch on our goal of attaining membership in the European Union, and spend time discussing Serbia’s approach to our region, Southeast Europe. I will also discuss the challenge of forging a compromise, mutually acceptable solution to the future status of Kosovo and Metohija, our southern province under United Nations administration since June 1999.

A few minutes ago I finished a thoughtful conversation with ambassador Ma Zhengang, the president of CIIS and our host for this event. It is always a great pleasure to meet someone who began his overseas diplomatic career in my country, back in 1970. It was then called Yugoslavia. We were in the very first wave of European countries to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, back in 1955.

Since that time, unbroken by tectonic shifts in the international system and the breakup of Yugoslavia, our two countries have enjoyed a remarkably stable relationship. We have forged a true friendship—despite the thousands of kilometers that separate us. And when it counted, the people of China stood shoulder to shoulder with the people of Serbia: we mourned together when your embassy in Belgrade was attacked during the 1999 bombing of our country, and we were the beneficiaries of your generosity in the aftermath. We will never forget those difficult times, nor your support in our time of need.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

China has always looked to the future. With your long history, vast territory, and huge population, you have met adversity with hard work, bravery, resourcefulness, patience, indomitable spirit, and intellectual innovation. You suffered greatly during the Second World War, yet out of the ashes emerged the New China in 1949. Decades later, the 1978 adoption of reform and opening-up policies initiated by Deng Xiaoping—one of the very few statesmen who achieved his own predictions, as Henry Kissinger once characterized him—has propelled China onto the world stage as a strong factor of political stability, economic dynamism and social equality.

China’s embarking on the path of peaceful development, and your quest to build a harmonious society by putting people first, deserves deep admiration. I cannot help but notice that of all the permanent members of the UN Security Council, China has become the largest peacekeeping and law-enforcement contributor to UN missions around the world. China acts as it speaks, and thus follow the Chinese adage that “sincerity is the treasure of speech and the center of good conduct.”

Indeed, your achievements are truly unique in the annals of history. James Wolfensohn, formerly president of the World Bank, put it succinctly when he said that “the Chinese have gained achievements in only 20 years which would take many other countries two centuries to accomplish.” I read somewhere that in the next decade or so, if internal migration patterns continue, China will have to build a city the size of New York every four months—an almost impossible feat for any other country on earth. It is thus natural that rectifying both the rural-urban divide and regional disparities are issues your Government has indicated will remain top priorities. But your track record in overcoming challenges suggests that China will find a way to continue succeeding—with quiet pride and strength of purpose so characteristic of the East.

I was struck recently by the words of Premier Wen Jiabao, who spoke of creating a new community of common destiny through the fostering of a security environment of mutual trust and enduring stability. I believe that the construction of a future characterized in this way—a world of continuous reform and enhanced social justice, technological innovation and the respect for human rights—can provide a firm foundation for the further peaceful development of the entire planet.

So we will watch your progress and continue to support your One China policy, as well as other priorities that form the foundation of our bilateral relationship. And we will continue to find ways in which we can actively deepen our cooperation with your country, and with all countries that seek to expand the comprehensive ties of friendship with the Republic of Serbia. We will do so from the vantage point of a country fully aware of the limits of our means, and carefully observant of the ways in which the world is changing.

It has become more interdependent, multipolar, and globalized. At the same time, the world community is, worryingly, less coherent, and less predictable. Humankind is therefore presented with a rare opportunity to develop in peace, but at the same time is faced with severe challenges. One such challenge is finding ways to clean up and protect the environment: sustained action must be taken to prevent climate change and pollution from working against the advances that humankind has made. A related one revolves around a whole host of energy-related matters, including buzzwords such as new technologies or dependence. There is no way around these issues, and it is of paramount importance that we handle them in a most prudent way. And a third challenge is the evolution of international security issues. As we know well, the dangers posed by conventional military threats have lessened. Yet dangers posed by unconventional ones—such as terrorism, the proliferation of WMD, ethnic and religious extremism, secessionism, and organized crime—have dramatically increased in recent times.

We must work together—developed and developing, North and South, West and East—to ensure a better, cleaner, and more secure world. A world of harmony, lasting peace, and common prosperity. All other approaches to the future would relegate us to an era of even more unbalanced economic development and great power rivalry. This is neither in the interest of the Serbian people, nor in the common interest of humankind.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Serbia’s destiny lies in the European Union. Rapidly moving forward along the road to accession is the strategic priority of the Government of Serbia. In fact, the aspiration to join the European Union is a goal common to all the countries of Southeast Europe.

Serbia has always been a part of Europe: geographically, historically, strategically, and culturally. We form an integral part of European civilization, and it is our destiny to enter the institutional and political mainstream of Europe. We have mobilized the resources of our country to achieve this goal in the fastest possible timeframe, and expect to be ready for membership in 2012.

What I want to emphasize is that our eventual membership in the European Union will only strengthen our resolve to maintain a foreign policy based on the strict adherence to the founding documents of the international system and the European space—documents such as the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act. The principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity must continue to form the firm foundation of how we relate to one another in the global arena—one that has produced a period of unprecedented growth, development, mutual respect, and peace in the world.

I also want to emphasize that our European accession will give a new meaning to Serbia’s bond of friendship with China. Not only will it deepen your access to the common European market, but I firmly believe that it will increase both understanding and cooperation between Beijing and Brussels.

Another key foreign policy priority is promoting friendly, cooperative, neighbourly relations among all the countries of Southeast Europe. Belgrade is the metropolitan centre of the region, and is thus naturally assuming a place of prominence in its affairs. Along with this geopolitical privilege comes responsibility, for our success promotes the success of the entire region—a region that suffered much in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall. In Southeast Europe, as in virtually all the other regions of the world, no one country’s development can succeed without that of others.

That is why we are devoting considerable efforts to ensuring that our regional policies reflect our core belief in the importance of promoting common values, mutual understanding, reconciliation, and development. That is why we are acting in a way that furthers stability and enhances prosperity in the region, and why we are working hard to lead the way in the promotion of democracy, the rule of law and good governance.

Simply put, Serbia’s success ensures that the entire region will be propelled forward. But if the wrong moves are made, Serbia and its determined path to development could suffer a fatal, generational blow. And if we falter, if we plunge back into a mindset reminiscent of our recent past, there is a real danger that Southeast Europe could get hurled back to the 1990s. The region could return to division and strife—and hatred, and conflict, and terrible misery. Stability would not take root, and prosperity would remain illusive.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

When I speak of “wrong moves”, I speak of attempts by some in the international community to impose an outcome to the future status of Kosovo and Metohija that is unacceptable to Serbia—and not just Serbia. For a solution that would lead to the forcible partition of our country by recognizing the secessionist aspirations of Kosovo’s Albanians is tantamount to a course of action that goes against the very heart of the international system. It would establish a precedent affecting the stability of not only Southeastern Europe, but the security architecture of a number of other regions throughout the world.

Now, as you may know, our southern province of Kosovo and Metohija was put under United Nations administration by the Security Council, following the end of the 1999 NATO campaign, all the while clearly reaffirming the fact that Kosovo remained an integral part of our country.

Let us seek truth from facts, as Deng Xiaoping used to say. Kosovo’s Albanian secessionists seek independence, wrongly equating the legitimate right of self-determination with sovereignty and independence. A process of negotiations is underway, and we believe that the only way to consolidate national and regional stability is to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution. Only such a way forward will produce a result that is good for the region as a whole, a solution that will ensure sustainable, fast and harmonious economic growth and the political stability necessary to make it happen.

Clearly, there remains a significant gap between the current positions of Belgrade and Pristina. But if a real attempt at negotiating takes place—if both sides show a sincere willingness to bridge their differences for the sake of peace and reconciliation—then I sincerely believe that compromise can be reached.

A final point: However paradoxical as it may sound at first blush, not imposing deadlines on the negotiation process will likely lead to a more rapid settlement of Kosovo’s future status. For setting no firm deadlines concentrates minds by dis-incentivizing parties to simply wait out the clock, because waiting out the clock will not produce a solution that secures the region’s prosperous future.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

China’s principled support of Serbia’s desire to forge a compromise, mutually-acceptable solution on Kosovo’s future status has been unwavering, and it will not be forgotten. It has deepened our friendship, and brought us closer together, in much the same way as has our common position on Taiwan.

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The last time I went to my ancestral village in central Serbia, an old man said something that stopped me in my tracks. After I repeated it to someone who knows a little more about China than I do, I was told that you too have a similar saying. In your version it goes like this: “Loyalty is the centre of virtues, sincerity their consolidator, and modesty their foundation.”

It is this common way of understanding the human condition that binds us to one another, Serbs and Chinese. This realization increased my genuine desire to come here, to learn from you, to better understand your culture, your development, and your contribution to world affairs. But I can say already that I will make return trips, and that I will do all in my power to increase the breadth and the depth of our bilateral, mutually-beneficial, friendly relationship.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Secretary-General,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends,

It is my distinct honor to address the North Atlantic Council on the day the Republic of Serbia formally submits our Partnership for Peace Presentation Document.

This is an important day for the Republic of Serbia and our democracy, for the Western Balkans as a whole, and for the Euro-Atlantic community of nations.

Today we confirm Serbia’s clear readiness to play a constructive role in consolidating the security architecture of Southeast Europe.

Excellencies,

We all know that the recent history of relations between my country and NATO has been a difficult one. We will never be able to forget the tragic events that took place in 1999.

But I am not here to dwell on the past. The key to democratic politics, especially in a recently democratized country, is to offer a vision of security and prosperity to one’s citizens.

And so we look forward, not back. By working together, in the spirit of mutual trust and respect, we can ensure that conflict and destruction never happen again in our part of Europe.

Throughout the region, issues of trust must be resolved; dilemmas about intent have to disappear; a 21^st-century sense of purpose should be created; and shallow, outdated concepts of national defense must be overcome.

They will. For this day marks the beginning of a fresh chapter in the history of democratic freedom in Southeast Europe.

Excellencies,

The strategic priority of the Government of Serbia is to rapidly move the country toward full EU membership. In fact, the aspiration to join the European Union is a goal common to all the countries of the Western Balkans.

Another strategic priority is to be actively engaged in our Partnership for Peace activities, and to consolidate our Euro-Atlantic prospects. Soon we will sign the Security Agreement, and open our Mission to NATO, so we can get to work delivering the benefits of PfP membership to the citizens of our country and our region.

I believe that without this twin perspective emanating out of Brussels, the incentives to reform and cooperate in our part of the world could be dramatically diminished. The Western Balkans could return to division and strife—and hatred, and conflict, and terrible misery. Stability would not take root, and prosperity would remain illusive.

That is why forming a security partnership between countries based on shared values has a special meaning for us. It intensifies communication, and it makes true regional cooperation possible.

And it signals that we fully respect the cornerstone documents that inform how the Euro-Atlantic community of nations is guided in the international arena—documents such as the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act.

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A crucial component in building an undivided Europe is reconciliation. Democracy cannot flourish without a full and open account of the past. That is why the Republic of Serbia is strongly committed to full and immediate cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former-Yugoslavia. The few indictees still at-large must be located, arrested, and handed over to the Hague.

This is not only our international obligation; it is our moral duty—to our neighbours and the world, of course, but foremost to ourselves.

Excellencies,

It is our solemn duty to work together to make Europe truly whole, free and at peace.

Our Presentation Document is a written statement of my country’s fundamental commitment to fulfill this crucial endeavour. It affirms in no uncertain terms that Serbia believes in a strategy of intensive regional security cooperation and Euro-Atlantic engagement.

It lays out in detail the priority fields of cooperation the Republic of Serbia wishes to undertake within the framework of the Partnership for Peace.

It also expresses Serbia’s future objective of enhancing the interoperability of our Armed Forces with those of the Alliance. We pledge to speed up our ongoing defense reform process, and to ensure that our officer training and education programmes are in line with NATO standards.

Excellencies,

The security environment in which we operate has evolved. Today’s world is more interdependent, less coherent, and less predictable.

The dangers posed by conventional military threats have lessened, while dangers posed by unconventional ones—such as rogue regimes, terrorism, the proliferation of WMD, ethnic and religious extremism, organized crime—have dramatically increased since the end of the Cold War.

That is why we have expressed our readiness to participate in peacekeeping missions conducted under the flag of the United Nations—so as to assist post-conflict societies to rebuild and reconstruct, as is being done already in various parts of the world, including Serbia’s southern province of Kosovo and Metohija.

And that is why we are committed to working together to prevent when possible—and contain when necessary—those forces bent on destroying the values that inform our vision and our partnership.

Excellencies,

I would like to talk to you about the future status of Kosovo—the most important outstanding security issue in Europe.

From the onset of negotiations, the Republic of Serbia has consistently argued for a compromise solution that seeks to reconcile Belgrade’s legitimate demands with those of Pristina. I wish to express cautious optimism that the new, Troika-led negotiations will produce such a solution. It is the only way forward, and presents the best hope for the consolidation of democracy and stability in the region.

I believe that any other course of action is bound to produce winners and losers. That would be a profound mistake, for the Balkans is a place where revenge for perceived wrongs and losses has historically been a cause of endless grievances.

Were the imposition of independence to take place—in other words, were the Security Council to be circumvented—a dangerous precedent would be created, despite all attempts to claim otherwise. This precedent would contribute to the undermining of the architecture of international order by legitimizing the forced partition of a democratic state. It would lead us into a situation that would almost certainly spiral out of control, and call into question the great moral leap of the break with the past we began with the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic.

This cannot be in the interest of the countries represented in this room.

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Clearly, there remains a significant gap between the current positions of Belgrade and Pristina. But if a real attempt at negotiating takes place, then I sincerely believe that compromise can be reached.

Furthermore, paradoxical as it may sound at first blush, not imposing deadlines on the negotiation process will likely lead to a more rapid settlement of Kosovo’s future status. For setting no firm deadlines concentrates minds by dis-incentivizing parties to simply wait out the clock.

Excellencies,

Abraham Lincoln, in his Second Inaugural, delivered in the closing days of the American Civil War laid out a moral doctrine of conduct no less right today than on the day his words were spoken. “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right […], let us strive on to finish the work we are in, […] to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

Let us therefore confirm our commitment to finish the hopeful work of peace, the work we are in. To channel that hope, to remove fear, and to restore confidence. To come together in the democratic spirit of collective security. To consolidate the gains made. And to create a better era in a better world. For ourselves, and for the generations to come.

Thank you.