Office for KiM: There was no referendum in KiM

BELGRADE - The Office for Kosovo -Metohija (KiM) has stated that no referendum on independence was carried out in the territory of KiM, adding that neither Albanians nor Serbs or any other ethnic community living in KiM took part in it.

The unilateral independence of Kosovo-Metohija was declared on February 17, 2008, in a meeting of the so-called assembly of Kosovo, which had not been preceded by a referendum, either in the part or entire territory of Kosovo-Metohija, the release notes.

President of the United States Barack Obama said on Wednesday in a speech in Brussels that the cases of Kosovo and Crimea cannot be compared.

"NATO only intervened after the people of Kosovo were systematically brutalized and killed for years," the American president said.

The Office for KiM said that “without intention to engage in the polemics of great powers concerning the nature of international law, it wants to remove the misunderstanding that arose from the statements on Kosovo, in the context of Crimea."

"The statement that could be heard during the EU-US summit in Brussels that 'Kosovo only left Serbia after a referendum was organized not outside the boundaries of international law, but in careful cooperation with the United Nations and with Kosovo's neighbors' is, in our opinion, without any doubt unintentional mistake or a consequence of the incorrect translation," the release reads.

The UN, OSCE or any other international organization did not take part in the declaration of (Kosovo's) independence, either with advice, or confirmation, the Office for KiM noted.

Screenshot video Tanjug (illustration)