Luxembourg: The Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) is “neutral regarding Kosovo’s status,” said the European Union’s Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn in Luxembourg yesterday.

Rehn, who called on Serbia to establish “good neighborly relations with Kosovo last week, accused those who opposed the document of doing so “out of purely political reasons”. He said he had difficulty understanding the undermining of the SAA because of the issue of territorial integrity.

After the SAA signing ceremony, in a news conference, Rehn said, “The Serbian government has accepted the mandate, knowing that Article 135 of the Agreement very clearly said that it did not include Kosovo. It says that UN Security Council Resolution 1244 deals with the issue of Kosovo and that the Agreement does not prejudice the future status of Kosovo. Those who bring this Agreement into question do that out of purely political reasons. The Agreement is status neutral and those who say anything different are not telling the truth.”

President Boris Tadic, who was present at the signing ceremony, said, “What happened since the moment when the Serbian government authorized Delic to initial and sign the SAA? The Democratic Party of Serbia, which voted for the authorization, has changed its stand.”

Tadic clarified, “The SAA is made on the basis of a joint agreement to negotiate separately about the SAA and future status of Kosovo. These are two separate processes.” He reiterated Rehn’s stand that Article 135 of the SAA “does not prejudice the final status of Kosovo” because this is “possible only at the United Nations.”