Azerbaijan, Baku 18 February / corr Trend K.Ramazanova / The Kosovo independence cannot become a precedent for other conflicts, Jonathan Henik, the head of the Public Relations Department of the US Embassy in Azerbaijan, told Trend on 18 February.
"I do not regard Kosovo as precedent for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Henik said.
These are two different conflicts and Kosovo independence cannot influence the situation in Azerbaijan.
Last weekend (17 February) the Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Tachi convened a special meeting of the Parliament which declared the independence of Kosovo from Serbia.
Only five countries (the United States and EU member-countries) of 15 Security Council members supported the plan by Marti Ahtisaari, which stipulates issuing independence to Kosovo under international control.
After the unilateral issue of independence of Kosovo, the self-proclaimed republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia intend to appeal to Russia and UN for recognition of their independence.
In general, at least five EU member-countries, including Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Spain and Slovakia, have no intention of recognizing the independence of Kosovo.
Russia regards it unacceptable to determine the status of the province without consideration of Serbia's position and insists on the continuation of talks between Pristine and Belgrade. Moscow calls on convening an extraordinary meeting of the UB Security Council.
Serbia has no intention of recognizing the Kosovo independence, the Serbian Prime Minister Voislav Koshtunitza said. He promised the return of Kosovo and Metokhia to Serbia.
Approximately 2mln people reside in Kosovo with 90% of the population being ethnic Albanians supporting the independence of the province.
Since 1999, the Kosovo region, which is formally a part of Serbia, has been controlled by the UN. Kosovo strives for independence, but Serbia only offers the status of an autonomic region. On 4 February 2008 the EU gave its consent to dispatch an 1,800-member administrate police mission to Kosovo to replace the already serving 'blue helmets' in the region.