Release Political Committee of the Central Committee

Press Statement On the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo

Regarding the unilateral declaration of independence of the Serbian province of Kosovo, the Portuguese Communist Party expresses a firm condemnation of this illegal decision which constitutes a serious precedent in terms of international law and affirms its concern on the consequences that this step may have for the region, Europe and the World.

The secession of Kosovo, promoted by the USA, NATO and European Union, violates basic principles of International Law, the Helsinki Final Act and several United Nations resolutions on this matter – namely the Security Council Resolution 1244 of July 1999, which states the respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia on Kosovo – and represents another serious step in the escalade of subversion of international law and in the imperialist offensive against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the States.

The PCP denounces the imposition of the separation of Kosovo from Serbia as an integral part of the imperialist process of dismantling of Yugoslavia – which has brought so much suffering on its peoples, including the populations of Kosovo – and the creation of protectorates in the Balkans, accepting to be faithful representatives of the economic, energy and geo-strategic interests in the region of the main European powers, the USA and NATO – the very same who decided and carried out the criminal war against Yugoslavia.

The PCP reminds the inexistence of any UN resolutions that can support the decision of the secession of Kosovo from the Serb Republic. – a sovereign and internationally recognized State – and draws attention to the very grave consequences that such a fact and its international recognition can have on the stability of the borders of the European continent.

The PCP denounces the political farce that represented the so-called "negotiations" on the Statute of Kosovo, whose outcome was long known, prepared and supported by the NATO powers. The beforehand support of the European Union to the secession of the territory contributed decisively to this farce -. as now substantiated in the immediate dispatching of a "political and security mission" adopted in a shameless "process of silence".

Registering and deploring the signs of tagging along shown by the Portuguese government officials and basing its position on the principles enunciated in Article 7 of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic – namely those that refer the respect for the sovereignty of the States and the policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of other States – the PCP demands from the Portuguese Government and the President of the Portuguese Republic a responsible and unequivocal stand of non- recognition of the independence of Kosovo.

The PCP considers the extreme seriousness and expresses its disagreement with the dispatching of any European Union mission to Kosovo – which formally constitutes an occupation of part of the territory of the Serb Republic, given that the Belgrade authorities oppose the deployment of such a mission – and its frontal opposition to the involvement of Portuguese citizens, civilian and military, in this so-called political and security mission. It also reiterates its position to demand the return of the Portuguese military contingent deployed in Kosovo, integrated in KFOR and an end to the Portuguese military presence in the Balkans.

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