UN General Assembly
2008

Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence in February was greeted with a certain discomfort because of the precedent it set for other parts of the world. I remember Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers discussing Kosovo at our retreat in Singapore in February. While we supported autonomy for the Kosovar people, we felt it premature to recognize Kosovo’s independence at that point in time. There was strong preference for the issue to be resolved by the United Nations. Russia’s recent recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent States is also unsettling. Some analysts see it as Russia’s response to western support for Kosovo’s independence. While the issue of Kosovo and the disputes in South Ossetia and Abkhazia are different and should not be directly linked, we do have a common concern, which is the role of the United Nations in conferring legitimacy on new States. If this century is to be peaceful, it is crucial that all countries, big and small, abjure violence and adhere to the Charter of the United Nations and to the