IRELAND:Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has said the Government should recognise Kosovo when it declares independence to help bring stability to the Balkans.
In a statement issued ahead of Sunday's expected declaration of independence by Kosovo, Mr Ahern said yesterday that Ireland had to deal with the reality on the ground.
"We are faced with a decision to recognise Kosovo. My intention is to do so," said Mr Ahern, who also expressed regret that the UN Security Council had not been able to reach agreement and pass a new resolution clarifying the legal position for independence.
The lack of a new UN resolution has caused Serbia and Russia to declare that any EU state that recognises Kosovo will break international law and undermine the UN. Last week Russia's ambassador to the EU said Irish troops, already in Kosovo on the K-For mission, could be drawn into a legal quagmire following a declaration of independence by Kosovan Albanians.
But legal advice from the Attorney General Paul Gallagher says that the existing UN resolution 1244 drawn up in 1999 provides legal backing for the 280 soldiers to remain in Kosovo.
Separately, the Government has sanctioned the dispatch of nine Garda to join a 2,200-strong EU police and justice mission in Kosovo. This force should be formally launched later today, although deployment will take a further 120 days.
Ireland is not expected to be among the first wave of states to recognise Kosovo, which is likely to include the US, Britain, Germany, France and Italy. Instead, Mr Ahern is expected to bring a recommendation to the Cabinet within weeks that Kosovo should be recognised.
"We have to deal with the reality on the ground in Kosovo. Serbia effectively lost Kosovo through its own actions in the 1990s. The bitter legacy of the killings of thousands of civilians in Kosovo and the ethnic cleansing of many more has effectively ruled out any restoration of Serbian dominion in Kosovo," said Mr Ahern.
Mr Ahern, who held lengthy discussions with all sides in the conflict in November, said that the status quo could not go on surrounding Kosovo's future status.