Interview with Arutyun Ulunyan
Arutyun Ulunyan, a political analyst from the Institute of World History in Moscow, joined Russia Today to comment on Kosovo's status which is on the agenda at the Southeast Europe Energy Summit.
Russia Today: The status of Kosovo is one of the important issues on the Balkan summit agenda. What do you think a likely outcome could be?
Artyom Ulunyan: Frankly speaking, nobody expects that there will be a breakthrough in this problem. It is not a secret, but it is truth, that all the participants have their own understanding of the Kosovo problem, and first of all there is some disagreement among them on this particular issue. Russia, of course, has to understand, what kind of disagreement it is, and how to use it for its own purposes.
RT: You have just said that all participants have their own approaches. What are the different approaches to this issue?
A.U.: First of all, we should mention that the neighbours of Serbia – Greece, Macedonia and Bulgaria – are very concerned about this issue because the problem of territorial sovereignty and integrity is very important for the Balkans. The national minorities in the Balkans have some problems, even skirmishes, living in big states. In the Balkans it is a historical and political problem. And they have different approaches because, for example, the European countries are interested in the resolving this problem as much as possible and as quickly as possible. And the Balkan countries are very resistant to the quick decision on this problem.
RT: What is Russia's stance on this issue?
A.U.: First of all, Russia is not interested in promoting Kosovo's independence despite the desire of the Serbs. The second aspect of this problem is that Russia is not interested in having some kind of precedent when the international community without understanding the national interests of Serbia or another country may implement the decision which confronts the position of this country's central government. That is why the Russian position now is very stubborn.
