KOSOVO ALBANIAN OFFICIALS AGAINST CANTONISATION OF KOSOVO

BELGRADE, March 5 (Hina) - The partitioning of Kosovo is out of the question and Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's statement about the cantonisation of Kosovo and similar plans are only wishful thinking, Kosovo Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi was quoted by the Belgrade-based "Glas javnosti" daily on Friday.#L# The Belgrade electronic media today quoted the publisher of Kosovo's Koha Ditore daily, Veton Surroi, as saying Kostunica's statement about the regionalisation of Kosovo along ethnic lines was unacceptable and constituted a continuation of the policy of Slobodan Milosevic. Introducing the programme of the new Serbian government in the parliament on Tuesday, Kostunica, at the time still prime minister designate, said: "Serbia must resolve its state status, which has been jeopardised because it does not exercise authority on a part of its territory, namely in Kosovo and Metohija, where the international community is the highest authority". He added that the government would advocate "the cantonisation of Kosovo or its partition into entities". "If autonomy is the formula with which (the UN Security Council) Resolution 1244 ensures self-government for Kosovo and Metohija in relation to Serbia, then the autonomy of Kosovo's Serb community is a new formula ensuring the basic conditions for the survival of that community", Kostunica said. He went on to say that "autonomy entails territorial autonomy, i.e. the partitioning of Kosovo into entities or its cantonisation, as well as cultural and personal autonomy". In doing so, one should bear in mind that "the ethnic composition of Kosovo has changed significantly since 1999 and that the situation in 1999 has to be taken into account when establishing Kosovo institutions", Kostunica said. (Hina) rml sb