2009-11-22
(Xinhua) -- Nigeria on Saturday condemned Kosovo for its unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia. The declaration of independence was made by members of parliament in Pristina, its capital in the Southern Province of Serbia on Feb. 17, 2008. It was approved by a unanimous quorum, numbering 109 members.

Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ojo Maduekwe, made the condemnation in Abuja at a joint news briefing with his Serbian counterpart, Vuk Jeremic, at the end of one-day bilateral talks.

“Nigeria's tragic experience of civil war leaves us with no choice than to condemn the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Maduekwe as saying.

“With the country's experience, history has equipped us in many ways to always be on the side of countries that are challenged by secessionist moves,” he said.

“We want to commend the Republic of Serbia that they did not use force, they did not place embargo on Kosovo, they have used very peaceful means to address this matter and I think that is the way to go,” he added.

“The least that should be done is to encourage Serbia as they enter into discussions with their brothers in Kosovo to see how this issue could be resolved,” the minister said.

On Nigeria-Serbia bilateral relations, Maduekwe said there was need to move the relations from being adequately cordial to becoming progressively strategic.

He expressed gratitude to the Serbian government for voting Nigeria as a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council at the 63rd Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

He said the joint commission between the two countries which had been dormant since 1990 is going to be strongly revived.

“The capacity to get this started is inherent and there will not be any difficulties,” he added.

Maduekwe expressed the hope that as the commission commenced, various agreements put together in draft form would not just end at the signing stage.

“We will not just end at signing; the capacity for hard work for both countries will be brought to bear on these agreements by making sure that these documents will be implemented to the letter,” the minister said.

He listed the agreements to include trade relations, cultural and education agreement, consular and air transport agreements.

Earlier, Jeremic, who expressed gratitude to Nigeria for its support, said: “We will never forget the support from Nigeria to Serbia at our difficult time. “We know how difficult it was to take such decision,” he added.

He said the Serbian authority was determined to come to a solution with Kosovo through peaceful dialogue.

“That is why we have not gone to war with Kosovo, and that is why we will not go to war with Kosovo, that is why we have not put on any sanctions on them and we will not do that, he said.

“But we will continue to work with our allies like Nigeria to ensure that both parties return to the negotiation table because it is only through negotiation that solution can be found to international problems,” Jeremic said.

The minister said the signing of agreements to facilitate political dialogue between the two countries would give a rebirth to the dormant commission.

He disclosed that on the Serbian side, the leader of the commission would be the deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy. The minister added that the two countries also discussed cooperation at multilateral for a and within multilateral organizations.

Jeremic also disclosed that the Serbian government would be willing to award scholarships to Nigerian students who were willing to study in the country in 2010.

“Decades ago, we had students who came from Nigeria studying in Serbia, but today, we are eager to build the next generation of individuals who will be serving as a vibrant bridge between our two nations,” he said.

“We are very proud of the legacies we have had between our two nations in the past and we want to build on those legacies for the next generation,” he added.

“We look forward to receiving scholars from Nigeria to study in the University of Serbia,” the minister said.

He congratulated Nigeria on its elections at the UN, noting that the next two years is going to be the year the voice of Africa is going to be heard loud and clear and in a resolute fashion because Nigeria is going to speak for the rest of Africa.