Kosovo

Talks on Kosovo end without breakthrough

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Partitioning Kosovo is not an option, the troika handling negotiations on the future status of the province said Thursday after meeting separately with Kosovo Albanians and Serbians in Vienna.

"The atmosphere was constructive and friendly in both meetings," Ischinger said, adding: "we obtained reaffirmed commitment from both sides to make sure that no action or statement would occur from either side that might... be regarded as provocative for the future."
  
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica had warned earlier Thursday in Belgrade of consequences if the international community allowed Kosovo Albanians to unilaterally proclaim independence.
  
"If someone causes damage to you, then you, in accordance with the circumstances and situation, have to hit back... That is the way to preserve your own integrity and something that represents the dignity of the state," he told a press conference.
  
Serbia, backed by Russia, strongly opposes independence for the majority ethnic Albanian province, saying it is at the core of Serbian culture and history.
  
Serbia and Russia have rejected a plan for internationally supervised independence proposed by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari.
  
"I'm absolutely sure that the Security Council will never be able to pass a resolution which would legally grab part of (Serbia's) territory," Kostunica said Thursday.
  
But Ahtisaari's plan has been welcomed by the United States and the European Union and Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku said Thursday that it was the "best deal possible to ... create a stable, functioning state."
  
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon proposed the latest round of talks on August 1 but, keeping in mind months of failed discussions in the past, he set a December 10 deadline for a report from the troika.
  
Russian envoy Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko said Thursday: "There was no breakthrough but none of us was expecting a breakthrough. We are at the beginning of the process, we're moving forward step by step."
  
"The troika is united," he added.
  
Ischinger said a proposal to partition Kosovo along ethnic lines, an option rejected by the troika as well as by Pristina and Belgrade, was not discussed Thursday.
  
Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen had suggested partition as a solution earlier this week as he met Serbian leaders in Belgrade.
  
But Ischinger said Thursday: "The partition was not on the agenda today, it has not been raised by any party today."
  
He had said earlier that the troika would accept any solution agreed by both sides but was adamant no new proposals were on the table and that partition was "a non-subject." 
  
Skandar Hisseni, the spokesman for the Kosovo Albanian delegation, said the troika had reaffirmed the "principle of territorial intergrity."
  
"So we are reassured that a partition of Kosovo is ruled out," he said.
  
Thursday's talks at the Austrian foreign ministry brought together high-level officials from both sides: Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu and Prime Minister Agim Ceku were leading the Kosovo Albanian delegation, while Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic and Kosovo Minister Slobodan Samardzic were heading the Serbian team.
  
Kosovo has been run by the UN since 1999 when a NATO bombing campaign forced Serbian troops to withdraw and end a harsh crackdown on Kosovo Albanian separatist guerrillas. A NATO force of 16,000 remains in the province.

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