Serbs, Ethnic Albanians Don't Reach Deal
VIENNA, Austria_U.N.-mediated talks over Kosovo's disputed political status will resume in a month after a Serb and ethnic Albanian meeting on the issue Tuesday produced no agreement.
The two-day talks at Vienna's Daun-Kinssky Palace were aimed at resolving one of the toughest disputes left from the 1990s ethnic Balkan conflicts: whether Kosovo should gain full independence or remain part of Serbia-Montenegro.
Albert Rohan, the U.N.'s deputy envoy at the talks, said that the first encounter was held in a "cooperative spirit" and mediators found some common ground during discussions. He set the next meeting for March 17.
Rohan said the talks were not aimed at reaching a specific agreement but rather to finding common ground on issues not directly linked to Kosovo's status.
Ethnic Albanians, who comprise about 90 percent of Kosovo's population of 2 million, want independence. Serbia insists on retaining some control over the region, which it considers an integral part of the nation and the birthplace of its national identity centuries ago.
Leon Kojen, a Serb delegate, said the talks were "useful" but that the two sides remained opposed on Kosovo's future status.
"Solutions which contravene the territorial integrity of (Serbia-Montenegro) for us are unacceptable," Kojen said after the meeting.
Lutfi Haziri, the head of the Kosovo delegation, said the province should become independent "as soon as possible. If it is possible tomorrow, we would be happy," he said.
Rohan said U.N. mediators were tackling practical issues in the hope of reaching a final agreement by the end of 2006.
The United Nations has administered the province since 1999, after NATO launched air attacks to stop a crackdown on independence-minded ethnic Albanians by President Slobodan Milosevic's Serb forces.
Thousands of people died and hundreds of thousands were displaced during the war, and the end of hostilities did not bring the two sides any closer to a resolution.
Rohan conceded that it might take a generation for the two sides to live together in harmony after the bloodshed of the 1990s. For now the best hope for them is if they cohabit, Rohan said.
The overall process is being mediated by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari.
Diplomats from the so-called Contact Group _ the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Russia _ have already agreed that the province cannot return to its previous status under direct Serb rule, nor can it be partitioned along ethnic lines or join another country in the region, such as Albania. They also stipulate that any agreement should be acceptable to the province's ethnic Albanians.
The two sides have disagreed over how much power should be held locally, with the province's minority Serbs insisting they be allowed to run affairs in their communities, establish links to other Serb areas and have special ties to Belgrade. Kosovo's ethnic Albanians say such a solution is a recipe for ethnic partition.
Finally, final status Kosovo must soon secure conditional independence
The international community is finally summoning up the courage to try to settle the Kosovo question - the last big unsolved issue left by the violent collapse of Yugoslavia.
Not before time. While there are risks in pressing for a settlement, it is more dangerous for Kosovo to remain as it is - a United Nations protectorate with its future blighted by uncertainty, unemployment and rampant crime.
The Kosovo Contact Group, consisting of the US, European Union states and Russia, was right after the 1999 war to freeze talk of Kosovo's final status, given the danger of provoking renewed fighting between the ethnic Albanian majority, which wants independence, and the Serb minority which claims Kosovo remains part of Serbia.
But now conditions in the former Yugoslavia are improving. Slovenia has joined the EU, Croatia has started entry talks, Macedonia is a recognised accession candidate, and Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro have started association agreement talks. Meanwhile Slobodan Milosevic, ex-Yugoslav president, and other alleged war criminals are in custody, although Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic are still free. And the economy is recovering from the wars of the 1990s.
With unemployment, crime and corruption rife, the environment is not perfect. Serbia is in a particularly hard position: as well as the prospect of losing Kosovo, it faces a likely complete break with Montenegro, the last ex-Yugoslav republic linked to Belgrade.
But there may never be a better time to act on Kosovo. And, with the US and its allies embroiled in the Middle East, western diplomats badly need a settlement in the Balkans to show intervention can end in success.
The plan is for ethnic Albanians and Serbs to negotiate a settlement. But these talks will very likely break down as Belgrade refuses to accept independence and ethnic Albanians, who compose over 90 per cent of the population, want nothing less.
The Contact Group must then be ready to impose conditional independence as anything less would perpetuate instability and risk an ethnic Albanian backlash. In return, the ethnic Albanians must be pressed to grant the local Serbs constitutional safeguards.
A settlement can be imposed only if Russia co-operates. Moscow has voiced concern about the precedent independence might set for troubled zones of the former Soviet Union. But Russia must be persuaded that UN-sanctioned conditional independence would be a less frightening precedent than an ethnic Albanian uprising.
Whatever the final deal, international troops and administrators must remain in Kosovo for years to come. The EU must continue to support the region with aid and stick by promises of future EU membership. Nothing will help the region to break with the past and focus on the future more than the prospect of EU integration.
The international community is finally summoning up the courage to try to settle the Kosovo question - the last big unsolved issue left by the violent collapse of Yugoslavia.
Not before time. While there are risks in pressing for a settlement, it is more dangerous for Kosovo to remain as it is - a United Nations protectorate with its future blighted by uncertainty, unemployment and rampant crime.
The Kosovo Contact Group, consisting of the US, European Union states and Russia, was right after the 1999 war to freeze talk of Kosovo's final status, given the danger of provoking renewed fighting between the ethnic Albanian majority, which wants independence, and the Serb minority which claims Kosovo remains part of Serbia.
But now conditions in the former Yugoslavia are improving. Slovenia has joined the EU, Croatia has started entry talks, Macedonia is a recognised accession candidate, and Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro have started association agreement talks. Meanwhile, ex-Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic and other alleged war criminals are in custody, although Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic are still free. And the economy is recovering from the wars of the 1990s.
With unemployment, crime and corruption rife, the enviroment is not perfect. Serbia is in a particularly hard position: as well as the prospect of losing Kosovo, it faces a likely complete break with Montenegro, the last ex-Yugoslav republic linked to Belgrade.
But there may never be a better time to act on Kosovo. And, with the US and its allies embroiled in the Middle East, western diplomats badly need a settlement in the Balkans to show intervention can end in success.
The plan is for ethnic Albanians and Serbs to negotiate a settlement. But, these talks will very likely break down as Belgrade refuses to accept independence and ethnic Albanians, who compose over 90 per cent of the population, want nothing less.
The Contact Group must then be ready to impose conditional independence as anything less would perpetuate instability and risk an ethnic Albanian backlash. In return, the ethnic Albanians must be pressed to grant the local Serbs constitutional safeguards.
A settlement can be imposed only if Russia cooperates. Moscow has voiced concern about the precedent independence might set for troubled zones of the former Soviet Union. But Russia must be persuaded that UN-sanctioned conditional independence would be a less frightening precedent than an ethnic Albanian uprising.
Whatever the final deal, international troops and administrators must remain in Kosovo for years to come. The EU must continue to support the region with aid and stick by promises of future EU membership. Nothing will help the region to break with the past and focus on the future more than the prospect of EU integration.
U.S.says a settlement of Kosovo problem must protect rights of minority Serbs
WASHINGTON_The State Department said Tuesday that a Kosovo settlement should be based on protection of rights for the territory's minority Serb population and acceptance by all the people of area.
Spokesman Adam Ereli said Kosovo was discussed Monday at a meeting in Vienna between U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari and leaders from Kosovo and Serbia.
It was the first direct dialogue between the parties since the status process began in November.
"They discussed how the decentralization of the government can better protect the rights of Kosovo's minorities and improve the delivery of public services to all of Kosovo's citizens," Ereli said.
He said he expects further meetings on decentralization in the coming weeks.
Kosovo, with an ethnic Albanian majority, is a province of Serbia. It has been controlled by the United Nations with mainly NATO peacekeepers since a NATO air war in 1999 ended a Serbian crackdown on the Kosovars.
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