U.N. envoy: Kosovo independence this year

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro, June 13 (UPI) -- A U.N. envoy says the Serbia province of Kosovo will be independent this year.
Soren Jessen-Petersen, outgoing chief of the U.N. Kosovo civilian mission, Tuesday told the Albanian-language Koha Ditore newspaper in Pristina that Kosovo this year will become independent of the Serbian government in Belgrade.
Recalling that Petersen has never spoken directly what will be Kosovo's future status, Koha Ditore quoted the Danish diplomat as saying, "The dream of a majority of Kosovo's people will become true. It is clear that the Kosovo dream, and we know that Kosovo's dream is independence, will become reality."
Some 90 percent of the Kosovo population is ethnic-Albania while the rest are Serbian.
Serbs and ethnic-Albanians are meeting to decide who will govern Kosovo once U.N. and NATO personnel leave.