Russia issues new warning over Kosovo

He said the United States and European countries did not understand the potential consequences of independence for Kosovo, whose Albanian leaders are expected to declare independence on Sunday in defiance of Serbia.

“It would undermine the basics of security in Europe, it would undermine the basics of the United Nations charter,” Lavrov told reporters in Geneva. He said Western countries were dealing with the problem in a “haphazard” way.

“Many of them, frankly, do not understand the risks and dangers and threats associated with a unilateral declaration of Kosovo independence,” he said. “They do not understand that it would inevitably result in a chain reaction in many parts of the world, including Europe and elsewhere.”

Kosovo’s independence move has been delayed three times in the past year in deference to Russia’s insistence on continuing to search for a compromise and because of its explosive impact on Serbian politics.

Kosovo is Serbia’s medieval homeland but is now dominated by the 2 million Albanians who live there. It has been administered by the U.N. with NATO peacekeeping since 1999.

Its independence is expected to be recognised by the United States and a large number of European Union member states. Russia cannot stop independence but has blocked recognition by the United Nations.

EU lawyers say U.N. Security Council resolution 1244, adopted in 1999 after a NATO air war drove Serb forces out of the province, provides a legal basis for Kosovo to declare independence.

Lavrov’s comments followed a warning by Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov on Sunday that recognising Kosovo’s independence risked opening a “Pandora’s box”, implying it would be an ill-thought action with uncertain consequences.

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