KOSOVAREPORT

Kosovo must be independen by Former Foreign Ministers

2007-06-16T08:25:00.000-04:00

Friday, June 15, 2007

Kosovo is back in the headlines. President George W. Bush says that it should become independent soon. President Vladimir Putin of Russia opposes independence and prefers time for more talks. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France has suggested that we move forward, with a six-month delay.

This has a familiar ring to it. Eight years ago, many of us - then foreign ministers - put in place an international process to decide who should govern Kosovo. We believe that the only viable option is for Kosovo to become independent under strict supervision. That is the proposal that is currently before the UN Security Council and is part of the process that the Council, including Russia, agreed upon and has implemented since 1999.

Kosovo is the last substantial territorial issue remaining from the violent collapse of Yugoslavia. In 2005, as called for by decisions of the Security Council, the UN secretary general appointed a special envoy - former President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland - to achieve a political settlement.

After 14 months of negotiations with the leaderships of Serbia and Kosovo, Ahtisaari announced that the irreconcilable positions of the two parties had made consensus unattainable and that no amount of additional talks would overcome the impasse. In lieu of a negotiated agreement by all sides, Ahtisaari proposed that Kosovo receive independence supervised by the international community (primarily the European Union and NATO) and provide strong guarantees for the Serbs who live in Kosovo.

Now is the time to act. Tensions are likely to rise, and they certainly will not cool. Moreover, without a resolution on Kosovo's final status, the future of Serbia and Kosovo will remain uncertain.

Some may say that Russia would prefer this limbo to a situation where Serbia and Kosovo join the European Union and NATO. Serbs and Kosovars should prefer otherwise. They deserve to be in the European Union. And Kosovo cannot develop as things stand. It has been unable to gain access to international financial institutions, fully integrate into the regional economy, or attract the political capital it needs to address its widespread unemployment and poverty.

Russia has complained of not being included in talks. It should participate, but constructively and not just to block it. What may be needed is a formulation that allows Russia to acquiesce without having to break openly with Serbia. Russia can reassure Serbs and emphasize that Kosovo is a unique situation, without precedent for other regions.

The Ahtisaari plan has several advantages. It gives rights to Kosovo's 100,000 Serbs to manage their own affairs within a democratic Kosovo, which will be protected and monitored by the international community. It also requires protection for Orthodox and Serbian cultural and religious sites. Finally, it provides for an international presence that will oversee Kosovo's institutions and monitor the settlement's implementation. It also places Kosovo on the road toward EU integration.

The European Union has agreed to supervise Kosovo during the transition period and deploy a police mission alongside the current NATO peacekeeping force. An indefinite delay caused by continued confusion over Kosovo's status could jeopardize a smooth transition to European oversight.

Kosovo is a unique situation that has required a creative solution. It should not create a precedent for other unresolved conflicts. When the Security Council adopted Resolution 1244 in response to Milosevic's actions in Kosovo, it laid the groundwork for a political process that would ultimately determine Kosovo's future.

We know that all decisions on Kosovo are difficult. Some of us kicked the issue down the road eight years ago. Today, the international community faces the hardest issue of all. But the decision is necessary, and it is the result of eight years of international collaboration.

Serbia must recognize, however, that greater stability in the Balkans promoted by the Ahtisaari plan will allow it to use its location, resources and talent to become a major regional player and a constructive force in European politics. The Serb people deserve a legitimate place in Europe and Serbia could also begin to move towards possible EU membership.

Our goal remains a Europe whole and free, with all the people of the western Balkans participating fully as EU members. The benefits of a concerted EU effort in Kosovo, backed by the UN and NATO, are enormous. As such, Russia and the other UN Security Council members should follow through on the promise that the Council made in 1999 and agree to complete the process of self-governance in Kosovo. This is the best option at this stage of a very difficult history of the whole region. Viable alternatives do not exist.

Madeleine Albright, United States

Lloyd Axworthy, Canada

Jan Eliasson, Sweden

Gareth Evans, Australia

Joschka Fischer, Germany

Bronislaw Geremek, Poland

Niels Helveg Petersen, Denmark

Lydie Polfer, Luxembourg

Jozias van Artsen, Netherlands

Hubert Vedrine, France

No alternative to Kosovo independence - US diplomat

2007-06-12T16:34:00.000-04:00

The U.S., British, German, French and Italian representatives of the Contact Group for Kosovo have voiced support to the Kosovo settlement plan of Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Kosovo Marti Ahtisaari.
Russia did not take part in the Contact Group meeting in Paris.
There is no alternative to the Ahtisaari plan, said U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns.
He said the Paris meeting was bound to confirm the European and U.S. support to the Ahtisaari plan. Europe and the United States should also be united in the drafting of a UN Security Council resolution, which will prepare the independence of Kosovo, and convince Russia that this is the only possible way, the diplomat said.
In the words of Burns, Serbia lost Kosovo in 1999, and there is no way back.
``We wholly support the Ahtisaari proposals,'' a representative of the French Foreign Ministry said after the meeting. ``Yet, it is important for us to make this decision at the UN Security Council. It is necessary to ensure international presence in Kosovo, and that must be affirmed by a UN Security Council resolution.''
``We wished to find a solution at the Security Council from the very start, as we think that will meet the interests of the sides,'' the source said.
``We want to maintain close contact with Russia [in that process],'' the official added.
Ahtisaari called for the immediate definition of the Kosovo status at the Italian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Commission in Rome.
Time is running out, and more intensive efforts should be taken to evaluate all the positions and opinions and present them to the UN Security Council, he said. There is no alternative to the recognized independence of the southern province of Serbia, he said.
At the same time, Ahtisaari said that the position of Kosovo Serbs, who firmly support the irreconcilable Belgrade, complicates the negotiations.
It is possible to reach consent only if Russia agrees not to use the veto right in Kosovo debates at the UN Security Council, the envoy said. The only way out is Russia telling Belgrade that the question is closed and the independence of Kosovo is inevitable, while all the rights of the Serbian minority in Kosovo will be preserved, he said.
Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema reaffirmed support to the Ahtisaari plan on Monday.
Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin told a press conference following the G-8 summit in Heiligendamm that the Russian attitude to the Kosovo problem is based on international law and earlier decisions of the UN Security Council. The international law affirms the territorial integrity of states, while no one has repealed resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council, which clearly says that Kosovo is an inseparable part of Serbia, Putin said.
``They are trying to persuade us that it is possible to resolve the problem without concord of the conflicting sides, the Serbs,'' he said. ``This is wrong, as this fails to meet moral and legal norms.''
``We should be patient and cooperate with Kosovo Albanians and Serbs. We should stick to international legal principles and abstain from thrusting our will on other countries and peoples or humiliating them,'' Putin said.

History in Making - President Bush in Albania - Kosovo to BecomeIndependent

2007-06-10T23:12:00.000-04:00

History in Making - President Bush in Albania - Kosovo to Become Independent
Originally uploaded by kosovareport

Kosovo's prime minister hails Bush's independence remarks

2007-06-10T15:16:00.000-04:00

PRISTINA: Kosovo's prime minister hailed comments by U.S. President George W. Bush Sunday that the disputed Serbian province of Kosovo should gain independence.

A few hours after Bush spoke in neighboring Albania, Agim Ceku appealed to Kosovo's increasingly impatient ethnic Albanians to ensure the province remains peaceful while intensifying efforts for independence.

"President Bush said that Kosovo's people need to be calm," Ceku told reporters. "The only realistic, pragmatic and possible solution is independence for Kosovo and the time for such solution is now."

Bush said the discussions over Kosovo's independence cannot go on indefinitely.

"At some point in time — sooner rather than later — you've got to say 'Enough is enough. Kosovo is independent' and that's the position we've taken," Bush said during a news conference in Tirana.

Kosovo, a province of 2 million of which 90 percent are ethnic Albanians, has been run by the U.N. since mid-1999 when a NATO air war halted a crackdown by Serb forces on independence-seeking ethnic Albanian rebels.

"President Bush confirmed and gave full support to Kosovo's independence, and in one way he declared Kosovo independent," said Ceku.

The future of Kosovo has become another thorny issue in relations between U.S. and Russia.

Russia, an ally of Serbia, contends independence would set a dangerous precedent for the world's other breakaway regions. Serbia also opposes statehood for Kosovo, which it sees as the heart of its historic homeland.

Why Albania embraces Bush - The Christian Science Monitor

2007-06-10T13:21:00.000-04:00

The largely Muslim country, one of Europe's poorest, sees the visit Sunday by President Bush as a reward for its support of the war on terror.

By Nicole Itano | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

TIRANA, Albania
Dogged by protest for much of his European tour, President Bush received a warmer welcome Sunday in Albania, a former communist country eager to show that it remains one of America's staunchest allies.

Tirana, the capital, was festooned with giant American flags and the president was greeted by Albanians in red-white-and-blue Uncle Sam top hats. Mr. Bush, the first sitting president to visit Albania, traveled down a boulevard renamed in his honor.

"We have come to give our hearts to America and to President Bush to say that we are with them in the war on terrorism and we appreciate what they have done for Kosovo and for Albanians," says Arjanit Iljazi, a nurse who waited for hours to catch a glimpse of Bush in a central square Sunday morning.

Albanians see this weekend's visit, the second-to-last stop on the president's Eastern European tour, as a reward for their country's staunch pro-American sentiment and its support of US antiterrorism efforts. It's sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, frozen the assets of suspected terrorist-financiers, and taken in eight former Guantánamo Bay detainees whom no other country would take in.

"There is a strong feeling of gratefulness that the Albanian people nourish towards the United States, whether it be their politicians or people," says Ferit Hoxha, secretary general of the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Roots of pro-American sentiment

The roots of Albanian pro-American sentiment, people here say, date to Woodrow Wilson's support of the country's independence after World War I and were cemented during the 1999 NATO intervention in Kosovo, a majority ethnic Albanian province of Serbia. Albanians also see the US as the strongest advocate for the independence of Kosovo, whose status is due to be reviewed by the UN Security Council this month.

Although Albania's contribution to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are numerically small – 120 troops in Mosul, and 30 in Afghanistan with an additional 110 to come soon – they have a symbolic importance for the US. The US sees Albania as a model of moderate Islam and religious tolerance. Officially 70 percent Muslim, the country has a strong secular ethos after nearly a quarter of a century of state-enforced atheism under communism.

"I appreciated the fact that Albania is a model of religious tolerance," Bush said in a press conference with the Albanian prime minister. "And I appreciate the fact that Albania is a trusted friend and a strong ally."

Even in mosques, they love US

Pro-American sentiment is widespread here, even among Albania's Muslim faithful. At the historic Ottoman-era Ethem Bey mosque in central Tirana, the worshipers emerging from midday prayers last week said they welcomed President Bush.

Few of the men were bearded and many of the women's heads were uncovered; during prayers they borrowed scarves from a plastic bag near the entrance.

"We want better relations between the two countries," says the mosque's imam, Shaban Saliaj, who is also the mufti – the highest Sunni Muslim leader – of Tirana and looks very much like the professor of geophysics he once was. "Everyone is grateful for what the Americans did in Kosovo."

Mr. Saliaj does not support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – the Koran forbids killing, he says – but still supports the US.

On the streets, other Albanians expressed mixed opinions about the military campaigns there. But there is little public debate in Albania about their government's support of the wars, and it's difficult to find anyone in Tirana, politician or ordinary person, who has anything bad to say about America.

"I think the sentiment is pro-American rather than pro-Bush," says Endri Fuga, director of communications for Mjaft! Movement, one of Albania's largest activist organizations. For many Albanians who remember communism, he says, America still represents the ideal of freedom and democracy.

Poor country with high hopes

During the communist era, Albania was perhaps the most isolated and underdeveloped country in Europe. The country is still one of the poorest on the continent, but since the end of communism in 1992 it has allied itself closely with America and Western Europe.

The country hopes to gain NATO membership in 2008 and, eventually, to win a place in the European Union.

Bush reiterated the United States' support of Albania's NATO bid and emphasized that he is committed to Kosovo gaining its independence.

Seremb Gjergjaj, who drove more than six hours from Kosovo with friends in hopes of catching a glimpse of the president, says he came to thank Bush for America's support and that Kosovars would be patient.

"We have a saying in Kosovo that good things come slow."

Bush urges independence for Kosovo

2007-06-10T09:28:00.000-04:00

By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer 6 minutes ago
TIRANA, Albania - President Bush, getting a hero's welcome as the first American president to visit this Balkan nation, said Sunday that there cannot be endless dialogue about achieving independence for neighboring Kosovo.

"Sooner rather than later you've got to say `Enough's enough. Kosovo's independent,'" Bush said during a news conference with the prime minister of this tiny, impoverished country.

Bush's press for statehood was aimed at Russia and others that object to Kosovo's independence. Standing alongside Prime Minister Sali Berisha, Bush said any extension of talks on Kosovo must have "certain independence" as the goal.

In response to Albania's push for NATO membership, Bush said additional political and military reforms were needed before that could be considered — something the country's leaders said they understood.

"We are determined to take any decision, pass any law and undertake any reform to make Albania appropriate to receive the invitation" to join the western military alliance, Berisha said.

When Bush arrived to begin his brief visit, the hills overlooking the capital boomed as military cannons fired a 21-gun salute, and thousands gathered in a downtown square on a brilliantly sunny day to see him and first lady Laura Bush.

Huge banners proclaimed "Proud to be Partners" and billboards said "President Bush in Albania Making History." Red-white-and-blue paper top hats with stars on top were passed out to well-wishers.

"It is a bright day today when in our land there came the greatest and most distinguished friend we have had in all our times, the president of the U.S.A., leader of the free world," Berisha said.

Albania also issued three postage stamps with Bush's picture and the Statue of Liberty, and renamed a street in front of parliament in his honor.

Bush said he was proud to be the first sitting American president to visit. "I love to come to countries that are working hard to establish institutions necessary for democracies to survive," he said.

The issue of independence for the Serbian province of Kosovo is another issue on which the U.S. and Russia disagree.

Russia, an ally of Serbia, contends independence for Kosovo would set a dangerous precedent for the world's other breakaway regions. Serbia also opposes statehood for Kosovo, which it sees as the heart of its historic homeland.

The U.S. and key European countries that support Kosovo independence are trying to narrow differences with Russia over the future of Kosovo, which has been administered by the U.N. since a 1999 war between Serb forces and ethnic Albanian rebels. The U.N. Security Council is divided over the issue.

Last month, the U.S. and European nations introduced a revised U.N. resolution supporting independence for Kosovo under international supervision, but it was immediately rejected by Russia — which hinted it would veto the measure.

The new draft addressed Russia's concern that Kosovo's multiethnic character is preserved, but left out Russia's main proposal for new negotiations between the province's majority ethnic Albanians, who demand independence, and its minority Serbs, who want to remain part of Serbia.

"I happen to believe it's important to push the process along," Bush said. "The time is now. ... Secretary (of State Condoleezza) Rice will be moving hard to see if we can't reach an agreement. If not, we're going to have to move. Independence is the goal."

Russia also opposes NATO's spread into eastern Europe, and is concerned about the prospect that its neighbors Ukraine and Georgia may be brought into the western military alliance.

Berisha said 93 percent of his country's people support NATO membership for Albania.

Bush said he commended Berisha on Albania's progress on reforming its defense forces and meeting performance-based standards required for membership. "I look forward to welcoming you sometime into NATO," he said.

But he said additional political and military reforms were needed, along with more progress in fighting organized crime and corruption. Berisha said he understood and is committed to making the changes.

"I said, 'We're committed to help you,'" Bush said.

In saluting Albania's democracy, Bush praised it as a country that has "cast off the shackles of a very oppressive society and is now showing the world what's possible."

During the visit, Bush met with Albanian President Alfred Moisiu and greeted troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Albania recently decided to triple its deployment in Afghanistan to 140 troops. It also has about 120 troops in Iraq — a presence that Moisiu says will not end as long as Americans are engaged there.

Bush also had lunch with the prime ministers of Albania, Macedonia and Croatia, which hope to join NATO next year.

For One Visit, Bush Will Feel Pro-U.S. Glow - The New York Times

2007-06-09T22:07:00.000-04:00

By CRAIG S. SMITH
TIRANA, Albania, June 8 — The highlight of President Bush’s European tour may well be his visit on Sunday to this tiny country, one of the few places left where he can bask in unabashed pro-American sentiment without a protester in sight.

Americans here are greeted with a refreshing adoration that feels as though it comes from another time.

“Albania is for sure the most pro-American country in Europe, maybe even in the world,” said Edi Rama, Tirana’s mayor and leader of the opposition Socialists. “Nowhere else can you find such respect and hospitality for the president of the United States. Even in Michigan, he wouldn’t be as welcome.”

Thousands of young Albanians have been named Bill or Hillary thanks to the Clinton administration’s role in rescuing ethnic Albanians from the Kosovo war. After the visit on Sunday, some people expect to see a rash of babies named George.

So eager is the country to accommodate Mr. Bush that Parliament unanimously approved a bill last month allowing “American forces to engage in any kind of operation, including the use of force, in order to provide security for the president.” One newspaper, reporting on the effusive mood, published a headline that read, “Please Occupy Us!”

There are, to be sure, signs that the rest of Europe is tilting a bit more in America’s direction, narrowing the gap between “old” and “new” Europe that opened with disagreements over the Iraq war.

France’s new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, wants to forget the acrimony that marked his predecessor’s relations with the United States, even appointing a pro-American foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, who supported the United States’ invasion of Iraq.

Shortly after taking office, Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that Germany did “not have as many values in common with Russia as it does with America.” She has since proposed a new trans-Atlantic economic partnership that would get rid of many non-tariff barriers to trade.

And Gordon Brown, who will succeed Tony Blair as Britain’s prime minister this month, has vacationed several times on Cape Cod and befriended a succession of Treasury officials. He is expected to maintain what Britons call the country’s “special relationship” with the United States, ahead of other American allies.

So “old Europe” has warmed toward the United States, although there has been no fundamental shift toward more American-friendly policies. But even in “new Europe,” as the post-Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe have been called, Albania is special.

Much of Eastern Europe has grown more critical of Mr. Bush, worried that the antimissile defense shield he is pushing will antagonize Russia and lead to another cold war. Many Eastern Europeans, Czechs and Poles among them, are also angry that the United States has maintained cumbersome visa requirements even though their countries are now members of the European Union.

But here in Albania, which has not wavered in its unblinking support for American policies since the end of the cold war, Mr. Bush can do no wrong. While much of the world berates Mr. Bush for warmongering, unilateralism, trampling civil liberties and even turning a blind eye to torture, Albania still loves him without restraint.

Mr. Bush will be the first sitting American president to visit the country, and his arrival could not come on a more auspicious day: the eighth anniversary of the start of Serbian troop withdrawals from Kosovo and ratification by the United Nations Security Council of the American-brokered peace accord that ended the fighting. Mr. Bush is pushing the Security Council to approve a plan that would lead to qualified Kosovo independence.

Albanians are pouring into the capital from across the region. Hotel rooms are as scarce as anti-American feelings.

Albanians’ support for the war in Iraq is nearly unanimous, and any perceived failings of American foreign policy are studiously ignored. A two-day effort to find anyone of prominence who might offer some criticism of the United States turned up just one name, and that person was out of the country.

Every school child in Albania can tell you that President Woodrow Wilson saved Albania from being split up among its neighbors after World War I, and nearly every adult repeats the story when asked why Albanians are so infatuated with the United States.

James A. Baker III was mobbed when he visited the country as secretary of state in 1991. There was even a move to hold a referendum declaring the country America’s 51st state around that time.

“The excitement among Albanians over this visit is immeasurable, beyond words,” said Albania’s new foreign minister, Lulzim Basha, during an interview in his office, decorated with an elegant portrait of Faik Konica, who became the first Albanian ambassador to the United States in 1926. “We truly believe that this is a historic moment that people will look back on decades later and talk about what it meant for the country.”

Mr. Bush’s visit is a reward for Albania’s unflinching performance as an unquestioning ally. The country was among the first American allies to support Washington’s refusal to submit to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. It was one of the first countries to send troops to Afghanistan and one of the first to join the forces in Iraq. It has soldiers in both places.

“They will continue to be deployed as long as the Americans are there,” Albania’s president, Alfred Moisiu, said proudly in an interview.

Most recently, the country has quietly taken several former detainees from the base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, off the Bush administration’s hands when sending them to their home countries was out of the question. There are eight so far, and Mr. Moisiu said he is open to accepting more.

Mr. Rama, Tirana’s mayor, says he is offended when Albania’s pro-Americanism is cast as an expression of “provincial submission.”

“It’s not about being blind,” he said, wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the Great Seal of the United States. “The U.S. is something that is really crucial for the destiny of the world.”

The pro-American feeling has strayed into government-commercial relations. The Albanian government has hired former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge as a consultant on a range of issues, including the implementation of a national identity card.

Many people questioned the procedures under which a joint venture led by Bechtel won Albania’s largest public spending project ever, a contract to build a highway linking Albania and Kosovo. President Moisiu said state prosecutors were now looking at the deal.

In preparation for Mr. Bush’s six-hour visit, Tirana has been draped in American flags and banners that proclaim, “Proud to be Partners.” A portrait of Mr. Bush hangs on the “Pyramid,” a cultural center in the middle of town that was built as a monument to Albania’s Communist strongman, Enver Hoxha. State television is repeatedly playing a slickly produced spot in which Prime Minister Sali Berisha welcomes Mr. Bush in English.

What Mr. Bush will get in return from the visit is the sight of cheering crowds in a predominantly Muslim nation. When asked by an Albanian reporter before leaving Washington what came to mind when he thought of Albania, Mr. Bush replied, “Muslim people who can live at peace.”

Albania is about 70 percent Muslim, with large Orthodox and Catholic populations. To underscore the country’s history of tolerance, President Moisiu will present Mr. Bush with the reproduction of an 18th-century Orthodox icon depicting the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus flanked by two mosques.

“President Bush is safer in Albania than in America,” said Ermin Gjinishti, a Muslim leader in Albania.

Tim Golden contributed reporting from Tirana, and Alan Cowell from London.

Bush calls for action over Kosovo

2007-06-09T10:49:00.001-04:00

US President George W Bush has said the time has come to bring the issue of Kosovo's independence "to its head".
He was speaking after talks with the Italian Prime Minister Romani Prodi, during a visit to Rome.

Opponents of new Kosovo must be stopped - Joseph Biden

2007-01-02T19:11:00.000-05:00

By Joseph Biden
Published: January 2 2007 19:12 | Last updated: January 2 2007 19:12
Years of hand-wringing and chest-thumping over the future status of Kosovo may finally be drawing to a close. In the next few months, adroit diplomacy to secure Kosovo’s independence could yield a victory for Muslim democracy, a better future for south-east Europe and validation for the judicious use of American power.

But along with the potential for triumph in Kosovo, there is a growing risk that Serbia and Russia will conspire to seize defeat from the jaws of victory. Extremists in Belgrade and Moscow are – for very different reasons – hoping to use Russia’s United Nations Security Council veto to quash Kosovo’s bid for independence. If they succeed, the Balkans will emerge as another source of bad news in a world already crowded with crises.

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During the seven years since Nato ended Slobodan Milosevic’s reign of terror in Kosovo, a UN-backed administration has largely succeeded in bringing stability to the province. However, Kosovo’s people are justifiably tired of a status quo marked by uncertainty and economic privation. These two intertwined problems will continue so long as the debate over the province’s future remains unresolved. Its ambiguous status is also leading to stagnation in Serbia.

Nationalist politicians in Belgrade have embraced the fight against Kosovo’s independence to divert public attention from their own failures and Serbia’s stalled bid for European Union membership. The actions of Vojislav Kostunica, Serbia’s prime minister, have been particularly disappointing. In addition to refusing international requests to call for the arrest of war crimes fugitives Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, Mr Kostunica has rejected every attempt at compromise on Kosovo. Serbia’s moral authority on the issue hit a new low in October when the 1.5m ethnic Albanian residents of the province were denied the right to vote in a deeply flawed constitutional referendum that declared Kosovo an integral part of Serbia.

To their great credit, the people of Serbia have proved more realistic about Kosovo than their elected leaders. Opinion polls show that many Serbs foresee that the province will gain independence. Ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, meanwhile, overwhelmingly expect to sever ties with Serbia. With citizens on both sides of the issue ready to finish the debate and move on to more constructive challenges, leaders who block a solution will do so at their peril.

Historically, trouble in the Balkans is almost always the result of false expectations. On the whole, the citizens of south-east Europe are mentally prepared for an independent Kosovo.

If Belgrade postpones a settlement it will reopen the issue for many Serbs previously resigned to Kosovo’s independence and further inflame frustrations among the region’s ethnic Albanians. The result could be a return of the mob violence that shook Kosovo in March 2004.

A Russian effort to delay a deal on Kosovo would be in keeping with the Kremlin’s habit of fostering weak, subservient governments in formerly communist states. Moscow has apparently reached the conclusion that impoverished, unstable regimes are easier targets for manipulation than prosperous, independent countries. It has made extensive, public use of oil and gas diplomacy to undermine the budding democracies of eastern Europe. Less attention has focused on the Kremlin’s quiet efforts to exacerbate territorial conflicts in Georgia, Moldova and Azerbaijan. Serbia could become the latest victim of this strategy.

Kosovo is not ready for full sovereignty. Even after independence, Nato and the international community will need to provide security guarantees for Kosovo’s minorities and strengthen its economy and institutions. But it is time to grant the province independence. The longer the status debate continues, the further Kosovo and Serbia will fall behind other rapidly progressing former Yugoslav republics such as Croatia and Slovenia.

Success in Kosovo, if realised, will have implications far beyond the Balkans. A responsible Russian approach to the issue could demonstrate the Kremlin’s commitment to global order at a time when its credibility is in tatters. The people of Kosovo – already the most pro-American in the Islamic world – will provide a much-needed example of a successful US-Muslim partnership. Stability in south-east Europe would be a welcome bit of good news and offer hope in a season of tremendous foreign policy challenges.

The writer is the incoming Democratic chairman of the US Senate foreign relations committee

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2000

Independence for Kosovo by Agim Ceku - The Wall Street Journal

2006-11-21T21:29:00.000-05:00

Pristina -- Just as it seemed that the Balkans were finally turning the corner, we are instead entering another period of stagnation, delay and uncertainty. A United Nations decision on Kosovo's status, originally expected before the end of this year, has been postponed. The expectations in Kosovo are high. Kosovo is hungry for independence, Kosovo is ready for independence, and now is not the time to stop the clock.

We need to keep the process of statehood on track. Kosovo needs clarity to complete reforms and to attract vital international investments, but also so that our people -- and especially our Serb minority -- can escape the debilitating worries and uncertainty and start to build a future. Their home and future are in Kosovo.

There are two things we must do in Kosovo to succeed as a progressive and a modern independent state. First, we should further improve our institutions to achieve more transparency and a functioning legal system. Second, we need a broad political commitment to development and modernization.

Independence is only the first step and, in itself, is insufficient to provide for Kosovo's future. Kosovo needs a clear perspective for European Union membership. We can only succeed within this framework. This above all means prioritizing economic revitalization in the post-independence period. Nothing short of an economic boom will get us up to speed; the EU train will not wait for Kosovo, or the rest of the region for that matter. The biggest problem in the Western Balkans is economic malaise.

It is the Kosovars, not Belgrade, who have a real interest and stake in seeing Kosovo succeed. Moderate Serbs have long lost interest in Kosovo. Only those desperate for cheap, nationalist rhetorical points claim to care about it. Belgrade offers no vision, no economic or European agenda to the people of Kosovo. Increasing numbers of Serbs, especially those living in Kosovo, are beginning to see beyond this bankrupt world view.

I have no doubt that seeing Kosovo become independent will be a difficult new reality for Serbia. But it is the only way. Belgrade is not interested in investing in the development of Kosovo, and Kosovo is not interested in a political union with Serbia. But we are interested in developing a productive bilateral partnership with Serbia, just as we're doing with our other neighbors.

Social and economic progress in the region will be the big losers if we don't make the bold step forward to independence. The entire Western Balkan region needs a kick start in order to catch the EU train and catch up with the awesome economic growth of our EU-bound neighbors Romania and Bulgaria. This is the only way forward and the only way into the EU. Globalization is a reality which won't pause so we can get ready. The pace is being set in Asia, but transition will have to happen here in the Western Balkans if we wish to compete.

Most of us in the Balkans share a common vision about our future -- we want to get into the EU as fast as possible. The way to do it is through reforms. This wasn't an easy process for the Baltic countries. It wasn't easy for Eastern and Central Europe. And it won't be easy for the Balkan states either. The region needs to find its comparative advantage in Europe and in the global market. It will do so as soon as we settle the final status of Kosovo.

Can Kosovo survive? Sure. If we reform, we'll do very well. My government has adopted a proactive "3E" plan for Kosovo based on energy, economy and education. With large deposits of coal, Kosovo can in a few years become a net electricity exporter. With the right technology we can even do this with an environmental face.

The economy is picking up. There is no currency risk in Kosovo now that we've adopted the euro. We have privatized around 90% of the asset value of all state-owned enterprises. The financial sector has already been privatized, and we are now attracting new investments into the telecom and energy sectors. Much remains to be done, including cleaning up corruption in the courts, but we're on the right track.

We have a young population and a positive birth rate. Given the shortages in the EU labor market due to negative demographic trends, Kosovo can help fill the void. To do so, we need to retrain our work force. Hence we're now investing in education.

The EU is facing a crisis, and it needs time to consolidate and reset its internal political balances. However, this is no reason to lose sight of its strategic goal: a Europe whole and free. Right now this is still not the reality, at least not in the Western Balkans.

---

Mr. Ceku is the prime minister of Kosovo.

VOA NEWS: NEW REPORT CALLS FOR CREATION OF DEFENSE FORCE FOR KOSOVO

2006-11-21T21:26:00.000-05:00

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 -- The Voice of America issued the following story:

By Barry Wood

As the disputed Serbian province of Kosovo heads for resolution of its uncertain status after seven years as a United Nations protectorate, a U.N. study says the territory should have a multi-ethnic defense force.

Retired British Brigadier General Tony Welch says that, assuming Kosovo becomes independent, it will need a small defense force. General Welch, with long experience in peacekeeping in the Balkans, says it would be a mistake to transform the 5,000 - strong national guard, a former guerrilla force called the Kosovo Protection Corps, into a national army. He says the size of a defense force should be limited.

"We are suggesting no more than 2,500 people in all [to be the national defense force], very small, to be recruited from across the population of Kosovo, with no bars ethnically to anyone, no bars to current members of the Kosovo Protection Corps applying for posts within the defense force, but no right to posts within the defense force," said General Welch.

General Welch says the Kosovo defense force should be trained and equipped by NATO, which is currently responsible for security in Kosovo. Upon creation of a national army, General Welch says, the almost exclusively ethnic-Albanian Kosovo Protection Corps should be disbanded.

The full report on Kosovo's security arrangements will be released in December. Its contents were previewed at a forum hosted by Washington's U.S. Institute of Peace.

Kosovo's former administrator, Soren Jessen-Petersen, a fellow at the institute, says stability in Kosovo and the wider Balkan region is contingent on an early determination of Kosovo's status.

The United Nations envoy in charge of status negotiations is expected to present his report, likely calling for conditional independence, in late January. Kosovo's 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority wants independence, an outcome rejected by Serbia.

Jessen-Petersen says economic recovery in the province requires clarity on status.

"There are many reasons why we need status [determination]," said Soren Jessen-Petersen. "We need it without any further delay. But, certainly when you look at what are the biggest security concerns - economy and unemployment - they require status. They require clarity. Let us get it done sooner rather than later."

Jessen-Petersen says delay is the greatest threat to regional security. Other participants said Kosovo will be secure only when minority Serbs are secure. A repeat of the anti-Serb riots of 2004, they said, would be disastrous.

Jailed war crimes suspect to top his party's ballot list in Serbia's election

2006-11-21T21:23:00.000-05:00

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - Vojislav Seselj, a war crimes suspect charged with being part of a plot to murder, torture and expel non-Serbs during the 1990s Balkans wars, will top his party's ballot list in Serbia's upcoming general elections, his aide said Monday.

Seselj is currently in jail in the Netherlands awaiting the start of his trial by the Hague-based U.N. war crimes tribunal. He is first on the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party's list of candidates in the Jan. 21 parliamentary vote, the party's campaign chief Dragan Todorovic told the state Tanjug news agency.

Seselj's placement at the top of the ticket practically guarantees him a seat in Serbia's next parliament after the elections. His party's ballot list will be called "the Serbian Radical Party -Vojislav Seselj," Todorovic said.

Seselj ruled Serbia with former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic during the Balkan wars. His extremist party holds 80 seats in Serbia's 250-seat assembly and will be the chief challenger to several pro-democratic groups.

Seselj's party, which he heads from jail in the Netherlands, said he started a hunger strike last week demanding the tribunal grant him free choice of legal advisers, unrestricted spousal visits and an unconditional right to conduct his own defense.

He has lost 11 kilograms (24 pounds) since starting the hunger strike, the Radical Party said in a statement Monday, adding that Seselj "was aware of the (health) risks ... but will not give up" his demands and will continue refusing to be examined by physicians at the detention facility.

Seselj has pleaded innocent to nine charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for allegedly being part of a criminal plot to murder, torture and illegally imprison non-Serbs in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo in the wars during the breakup of Yugoslavia.

His trial is scheduled to start Nov. 27. He voluntarily turned himself in to The Hague tribunal in 2003.

No More Delays for Kosovo - The New York Times

2006-11-16T22:44:00.000-05:00

For the past seven years, the tiny Balkan region of Kosovo has been in limbo. Administered by the United Nations, it is not an independent state. But it is no longer a province of Serbia. That ended after Serbia’s rulers tried to kill or drive out Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians — and NATO went to war to save them.

Limbos are not stable. And the U.N. mediator in talks on the region, Martti Ahtisaari, was expected to announce by the end of this year that it was time to start Kosovo on the path to closely monitored independence. Instead, he put off the decision until after Serbia’s parliamentary elections — scheduled for January — for fear of bolstering Serbian ultranationalists. This postponement, only the most recent of many, should be the last.

After the 1999 war there has never been a realistic possibility of rejoining Kosovo and Serbia. Kosovo was supposed to earn independence by proving its willingness to govern responsibly and to protect its ethnic Serb minority. A lot more needs to be done on both those fronts.

But the United Nations has limited patience to keep administering Kosovo, and without the stability of statehood there will be no foreign investment and the beleaguered economy will not improve. Lack of economic prospects is feeding Albanian nationalism, and until Kosovo’s status is settled, anger will remain close to the surface.

Even as it moves Kosovo toward statehood, the U.N. should keep a substantial military and advisory presence there, both to ensure the rights of the Serb minority and to encourage democratic development.

Belgrade will always object to Kosovo’s independence. The best chance of moderating its reaction is the promise of eventual membership in the European Union and a clear warning that Europe will be watching how it treats its new neighbor. The Kosovars should be clear that donors and everyone else will be watching just as closely to see how they treat their own Kosovar Serbs.

Kosovo must not 'drag down' EU aspirant Serbia: Swedish FM

2006-11-16T22:15:00.000-05:00

The question of Kosovo's future status must not be allowed to harm Serbia in its bid to join the European Union, visiting Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said Thursday."The issue of Kosovo should not be allowed to drag Serbia down, Serbia should move forward to join the rest of the European countries," Bildt said after talks with Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic.Bildt said the solution for the future status of the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo should be "sustainable" and "in the interest of the entire region".Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of its population, are calling for independence but Belgrade has only offered the southern province wide-ranging autonomy.Draskovic himself warned that the possible independence of Kosovo could destabilise Serbia as well as the whole Balkan region, and insisted that Belgrade and Pristina's rival stances were not irreconcilable."It is necessary to bridge Serbia's legitimate request not to breach its territorial integrity and fulfill justified and legitimate demands by (Kosovo) Albanians," Draskovic told reporters."But I will never consider legitimate a demand to create another Albanian state in the Balkans," said Draskovic.Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when a NATO bombing campaign ended a crackdown by Belgrade forces on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians. It is still technically a part of Serbia.The UN's top Kosovo mediator, Martti Ahtisaari, said last week he would wait to reveal his plans for the future of the province until after Serbian general elections on January 21, delaying the previous end-of-year deadline.

UN readies Kosovo exit stragegy

2006-11-15T21:50:00.000-05:00

The United Nations said Wednesday it has started planning its strategy to exit Kosovo as a decision nears on the future status of the ethnic-Albanian majority province.The UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) said the measures it was planning would ensure "a smooth and orderly transition" of its responsibilities to international institutions and local authorities."The joint international and local planning work now under way is essential to prepare" for the transition to the future authorities in Kosovo, UNMIK spokesman Neeraj Singh told reporters."Prudent, responsible planning for the transition will now intensify through a series of working groups that will be formed in areas including civil administration, economy, property, governance, security, legal transition, budget and rule of law," he said.Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since mid-1999, after a NATO bombing campaign ousted Serbian forces from the province because of a brutal crackdown against ethnic Albanians.Still formally a part of Serbia, its future status had been due to be resolved by the end of the year but last week was delayed until after Serbian elections on January 21.The United Nations has come under strong criticism for its heavily bureaucratic administration in Kosovo, which is estimated to have cost around 1.3 billion dollars a year.A European Union-led team of diplomats told AFP earlier this month that it had already begun planning the future role for the international community in Kosovo.

Poland backs 'free and independent' Kosovo: Albanian president

2006-11-14T21:48:00.000-05:00

Poland backs a "free and independent" Kosovo, Albanian President Albert Moisiu said Tuesday following a meeting with his Polish opposite number Lech Kaczynski."I was pleased to hear that President Kaczynski, Poland and the Polish nation are ready to support us in favour of stability in the Balkans, and for the freedom and independence of Kosovo," Moisiu told reporters during a joint press conference with Kaczynski.Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the small Serbian province's population, are demanding independence while Serbia is only prepared to grant the UN-administered region autonomy.The province has been run by a UN mission since 1999, when a NATO bombing campaign ended a crackdown in Kosovo by Belgrade.On Monday, European Union policy chief Javier Solana had said that a decision on the status of Kosovo should be delayed until after Serbia held legislative elections in January, to take the wind out the sails of Serbian hardliners.The Serbian parliament last week passed a new constitution -- backed by voters in a referendum -- that defines the province as an "integral" part of Serbia, but a final UN proposal is expected to grant Kosovo sovereignty.Kaczynski said that Albania played a "stablising role" in the troubled Balkan region and seemed "close" to joining NATO."But the road to European Union membership seems more difficult," he said, although he reaffirmed Poland's support of an "open-door" policy for potential new members of the 25-nation European bloc.Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the EU in 2004, after more than a decade of preparations following the collapse of communist rule.

Albania says postponing resolution of Kosovo's status threatens regional stability

2006-11-14T21:47:00.000-05:00

Postponing a resolution of Kosovo's future status could threaten regional stability, the Albanian prime minister said Tuesday, while urging Kosovo Albanians to support their negotiating team.The U.N.'s special enjoy for Kosovo said Friday he would delay issuing a report on the province's future until after Serbia held elections in January.Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said that could cause trouble. "Further postponement of Kosovo's final status at this delicate moment complicates the situation, stability in Kosovo and the region," he said. Negotiators initially had hoped to resolve the issue by the end of this year.Albania has been the strongest supporter of independence for Kosovo, demanded by the province's ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of its population.Serbia wants to keep at least some control over the province, and last month approved adopting a new constitution declaring Kosovo an integral part of its territory.Albania has said Serbia's new constitutional claim over Kosovo was unacceptable, and Berisha dismissed the Serbian referendum again Tuesday, telling reporters that "independent, free and democratic Kosovo is the condition for peace and stability" in both the province and the region.Berisha also appealed to the six-nation Contact Group participating in status talks, as well as the European Union, to rule out any change to Kosovo's borders, which he said "would encourage adventurers and demons of all Balkan nationalisms to ... turn the Balkans back to its darkest times."Kosovo Albanians should support their political leadership, which he said had "decisively protected Kosovo citizens' European national interests."Since the end of the war between Serb military forces and separatists in the southern province in 1999, the predominantly ethnic Albanian territory has been run by a U.N. administration and patrolled by NATO peacekeepers.

How did Ahtisaari and CG decide to postpone status solution (Zëri)

2006-11-11T18:22:00.000-05:00

In a font-page editorial, Zëri quotes diplomatic sources saying that the final text of Ahtisaari’s statement took a long negotiating time between the Contact Group members and President Ahtisaari. The sources said that CG and Ahtisaari were found in a fait accompli situation with elections taking place in Serbia and with the current Government in Belgrade not presenting a negotiation party any longer.

The sources said that Ahtisaari and the three members of the Contact Group that support a fast solution to the Kosovo status (USA, UK and France) managed to limit the postponements of status decision for a shorter period of time after the elections on 21 January as opposed to a longer timeframe that Moscow and Belgrade insisted on.

The paper says if Ahtisaari’s statement is translated into concrete terms, it will mean that UN Status Envoy will present his proposal to Pristina and Belgrade on February and that the status of Kosovo could be known by March of 2007. “It turns out that March will again be decisive for the fate of Kosovo,” the paper writes.

Independence in the beginning of 2007 (Dailies)

2006-11-11T18:20:00.000-05:00

Express writes that Ahtisaari has postponed the process of Kosovo status for March. “Perhaps this will be the first March in recent decades that will bring something good for the Kosovars. So far, it has only carried its symbolic – war,” the paper writes. It also says that the delay does not damage anything else apart from the credibility of the Kosovo Negotiations Team.

Recalling the statement issued by President Ahtisaari on the conclusion of the Contact Group meeting where he said that he will present his proposal “for the settlement of Kosovo status to the parties without delay after the parliamentary elections in Serbia”, Express notes that Ahtisaari does not specify the date when he will deliver his proposal. “It is also not clear whether Ahtisaari will deliver the proposal to the current government in Belgrade or will wait for the constitution of the new government following elections there,” the paper writes.

Zëri quotes UNOSEK Spokeswoman Hua Jiang saying that presentation of President Ahtisaari’s proposals will not be delayed after elections in Serbia but adds that she did not explain the reasons behind the decision. Jiang said Ahtisaari does not mention a precise date for the presentation but added that this will be done without delays.

Decision on Kosovan independence to be postponed: Delay prompted by fears over Serbian nationalism Proposal to be announced after Belgrade elections

2006-11-11T18:18:00.000-05:00

SECTION: GUARDIAN INTERNATIONAL PAGES; Pg. 26

LENGTH: 383 words

The international powers have put off deciding to impose independence on Kosovo in an attempt to forestall extreme nationalists coming to power in Serbia.Serbia yesterday announced early elections for January 21, with the extreme nationalist Radical party tipped to emerge as the strongest party. Simultaneously in Vienna, the UN envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, and diplomats from the US, Europe and Russia went back on earlier pledges to resolve Kosovo's status this year. They said they would wait until after the Serbian ballot before making public their recommendations.Kosovo, which has an Albanian majority, is formally part of Serbia but won an independence war in 1999 when the Serbian authorities were driven out by Nato. Since then it has been under UN control.Mr Ahtisaari has been negotiating with the Serbs and Albanians since February in a vain attempt to find a settlement. Since there is no prospect of agreement, he is to propose to the UN security council that the international community impose his recommendations. "I have decided to present my proposal for the settlement of Kosovo's status to the parties without delay after parliamentary elections in Serbia," Mr Ahtisaari said in Vienna.Serbian officials have been trying to delay a decision on Kosovo and are waging a ferocious campaign warning of the risks to international stability of an independent Kosovo. Last month the prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, rushed through a new constitution proclaiming Kosovo forever part of Serbia. The Kosovo issue will dominate the election campaign.In a study of the new constitution this week, the International Crisis Group thinktank said that Serbia was turning its back on mainstream liberal democracy in Europe and reverting to a role as a nationalist, authoritarian seat of instability in the Balkans.Mr Ahtisaari, strongly backed by the US and Britain, is certain to recommend that Serbia lose Kosovo, although the province's independence will be hedged with conditions that fall short of full sovereignty for some time to come. Tensions are rising as the deadline for a decision nears. Any longer postponement risks an explosion of frustration among Kosovo's two million Albanians.Ethnic Albanians in Pristina, Kosovo's capital. Kosovo has an Albanian majority

Kosovo PM prepared to declare independence unilaterally

2006-11-09T18:31:00.000-05:00

Kosovo could unilaterally declare independence if talks with Belgrade fail to answer the demands of its ethnic Albanian majority, the prime minister of the Serbian province said Thursday."This is not a threat. We see this as a possibility. Kosovo will certainly be an independent country," prime minister Agim Ceku told reporters."Of course, we prefer this to happen through a resolution of the (UN) Security Council, which will have a wide support," Ceku added.The negotiations on the future status of the southern Serbian province, administered by the United Nations since June 1999, began in February under the auspices of the UN.Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who make up around 90 percent of the province's two million population, are seeking independence from Serbia.But the government in Belgrade and Kosovo's Serb minority insist the province -- which they consider the cradle of Serbian culture and history -- should only be granted greater autonomy.Meanwhile, Ceku's deputy Lutfi Haziri, together with opposition leader Veton Surroi, visited the Serb-populated enclave of Gracanica near the capital Pristina, in a bid to convince Kosovo Serbs to accept the government's option for Kosovo's future status.Haziri presented the plan to form a new municipality that would group Gracanica and all villages around it, with some 18,000 inhabitants."Kosovo Serbs will have competencies in the departments of healthcare, education, public services, infrastructure, culture and sport," Haziri told a small audience of several dozen Serbs.Most of some 6,000 Serbs living in Gracanica, about eight kilometers (five miles) southeast of Pristina, have boycotted ethnic Albanian officials.Randjel Nojkic, a local Serb representative, said it was "too late" to hold such meetings between ethnic Albanian officials and the Serbs."Serbs do not have confidence in Kosovo institutions," he said.Serbs also protested over the government's move to shut down transmitters for two Serbian mobile phone providers, located in Gracanica and other Serb-populated enclaves, saying they were set up illegally."How can you believe their promises for our bright future in independent Kosovo, when they remove these antennas that are our only connection with Serbia," said revolted Nada Vojicic, 46-year-old housewife.Since 1999, some 200,000 Serbs have fled the province fearing attacks from ethnic Albanian hardliners. Those who have remained live in enclaves under heavy protection from NATO troops.On Thursday, a 53-year-old Serb was wounded in his house in the village of Letnica in eastern Kosovo.Police arrested three ethnic Albanian suspects. Two were released after questioning, but the third remains in detention.Belgrade lost control of Kosovo in 1999 after a 78-day NATO bombing campaign halted a crackdown by Serbian forces against independence-seeking ethnic Albanian guerrillas.

EU urges Serbia to cooperate with U.N. effort to resolve status for Kosovo

2006-11-08T18:53:00.000-05:00

The European Union urged Serbia on Wednesday to "take a constructive approach" in negotiating the future of its breakaway Kosovo province and said it must cooperate with the U.N.'s war crimes tribunal if it wants closer ties with the EU.Serbia and its Balkan neighbors must also do more to tackle corruption and step up political and reforms needed to prepare them for eventual EU membership, according to the EU's annual progress reports on the prospects of would-be EU members."I trust that Serbian citizens as well as political leaders now focus less on the nationalist past and more on the European future, that's best for Serbia, that's best for the western Balkans," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told reporters after the release of the EU reports."On Kosovo, we expect Serbia to take a constructive approach," he added.The EU's report on Serbia reiterated that steps toward eventual membership were suspended until Serbia proves it is fully cooperating with the U.N. war crimes tribunal and hands over top war crimes suspect Gen. Ratko Mladic.The report said the EU was also concerned over Serbia's new constitution, warning it did not fully guarantee judges' independence. It also called on Belgrade to intensify its fight against corruption and ensure full civilian control over its armed forces.On Kosovo, the EU report acknowledged that the focus on the sensitive status negotiations led by the U.N. "has delayed significant reform efforts."It said the province's administration "remains weak, affecting the rule of law," adding that judicial bodies there have made "little progress" in civil and criminal justice.Separate reports were also released on Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania.On Croatia already opened entry talks with the EU last year and hopes to join in 2009. However, the report said there was "considerable scope" for improving the nation's judicial system and its fight against corruption. It also called on Zagreb to ensure better protection of minorities and to solve its border dispute with EU member Slovenia.Croatia's President Stipe Mesic said the critical report on his country showed it had to follow through on reforms. "It is easy to pass the laws, but it is much harder to implement them," he said in Zagreb. "It all depends on us."The EU warned Macedonia over its problems with corruption. It said reforms must go faster, if wants to get a starting date for membership talks.

Kosovo's future status must be made clear: EU commissioner

2006-11-08T18:51:00.000-05:00

DATELINE: BRUSSELS, Nov 8 2006

Kosovo's future status should be legally and politically clear so the separatist Serbian region can sign agreements with the European Union, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said Wednesday."The precise contents and concept of the future status should be legally and politically a clear status so that Kosovo would have especially treaty-making powers, for instance, with the EU," Rehn said.Such an outcome would allow the EU and Kosovo to negotiate a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), the first step to EU membership, he told reporters after the publication of annual reports on EU membership hopefuls.It would also allow for EU-Kosovo negotiations on visa agreements.A status settlement "will give further impetus for the Kosovo authorities to progress on the reforms that are needed in the key areas of the rule of law, economy, and public administration," the Commission said in its report."Minority rights remain a vital issue, as is the participation of minorities in Kosovo's institutions," it added.Serbia has its own SAA agreement with the EU but it has been frozen until Belgrade improves its cooperation with the United Nations war crimes court.The UN's special envoy for Kosovo, former Finnish leader Martti Ahtisaari, has been in negotiations with Serb and Kosovo officials in a bid to define the status of the breakaway province, inhabited mainly by ethnic Albanians.Ahtisaari is expected, before the end of the year, to present the UN with recommendations on Kosovo's future, after eight months of talks faltered between the Serbian government and leaders of the province's ethnic-Albanian majority.Media reports have suggested that he will propose offering limited sovereignty.However UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said in a newspaper interview over the weekend that the talks on the future of Kosovo could drag on into 2007."Ahtisaari must be careful that the issue of the final status of Kosovo is not used for electoral purposes," Annan said, referring to the Serbian government's plan to hold an early general election in December.And on Monday the United States indicated it would agree to pushing back the end-of-year deadline.The Serbian government opposed independence for Kosovo and recently called on Ahtisaari to stand down, accusing him of seeking to impose a predetermined solution before the end of negotiations.Kosovo has been managed by the UN since 1999, when a 78-day NATO bombing campaign halted a crackdown by Serbian forces against Kosovo's separatist Albanian rebels.

UN Administrator Dismisses Fears Northern Kosovo Will Secede

2006-11-07T20:04:00.000-05:00

A NATO peacekeeper

The status of conflict-riven Kosovo, the UN-administered Serbian province that is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, is being considered by an international envoy who has spent nearly a year searching in vain for common ground between Serbs and Albanians. VOA's Barry Wood visited the northern city of Mitrovica, home to many of the remaining 120,000 Serbs who comprise a small minority of Kosovo's population.

Kosovo is quiet now but NATO-led peacekeepers are on guard against any recurrence of the kind of anti-Serb riots that erupted in 2004. Kosovo's status could be decided shortly. Ethnic Albanians demand independence, Serbs oppose it.

Nowhere is mistrust and ethnic separation deeper than in decaying Mitrovica, a once flourishing mining center now divided by the Ibar River into a Serbian north and an Albanian south.

Jeta Xharra is a journalist and filmmaker, part of a team that produced an acclaimed video ("Does Any Body Have a Plan?") on Kosovo's future.

Jeta Xharra
"The worst case scenario is that the north is so upset--whatever the solution. If Kosovo is declared independent, the north (could) declare itself independent. That's the worst case scenario."

About half of Kosovo's Serbs--and only a few Albanians--live in north Mitrovica and the wide strip of territory that leads up to the Serbian border. The UN rejects any partition and yet it is very much in the minds of the local population.

Gerard Gallucci, the UN administrator of Mitrovica, says partition won't happen. "I don't think there is any real prospect of that. I don't think anyone wants it. I don't think the Serb leadership wants it. I know the Kosovo Albanian leadership doesn't want it."

Gerard Gallucci
Gallucci admits that ethnic reconciliation is a long way off. But he's hopeful that Serbs and Albanians can cooperate on practical matters like municipal services. He supports decentralized local government as a means of building trust. "Decentralization simply means strong local rule in areas in which local people want to control their own lives, whether they're Serb or Albanian. I don't think anyone is explaining that to anybody, unfortunately, here in Kosovo."

Gallucci complains that because there has been little public education on the issue, many Albanians are suspicious that decentralization is a code word for partition.

Ethnic Albanian filmmaker Jeta Xharra supports decentralization and says that for Serbs to feel secure they need an urban center like north Mitrovica.

"Of course, it is sad that Serbs can't come to all the urban centers where they used to be, but unfortunately the reality is such that northern Kosovo is going to remain a largely Serb inhabited urban center," says Xharra.

For now Mitrovica and its bridge over the Ibar remain symbols of division and uncertainty. Serbs to the north, ethnic Albanian on the south, with UN police keeping the peace.

Montenegro's PM Rejects Serb Criticism Of Kosovo Meeting

2006-11-07T20:03:00.000-05:00

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP)--Montenegro's government leader Tuesday rejected Serbia's criticism about his recent meeting with the separatist leader of Kosovo, the breakaway province whose future status is being discussed in U.N.- mediated talks.

Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said he saw no problem in meeting last week with Agim Ceku, the ethnic Albanian leader of Kosovo, which has been an international protectorate since the 1998-99 war there between Serb troops and the separatist rebels.

"I absolutely reject any objections from Serbia concerning Ceku's visit...we did not discuss Kosovo's future status," said Djukanovic, following accusations by Serbian officials that receiving Ceku was a "stab in the back" to Serbia's efforts to prevent Kosovo's secession.

Serbia's leadership has said that accepting Ceku as a visiting statesman meant Montenegro's readiness to recognize Kosovo as a state.

Talks over Kosovo's future are under way under the auspices of the U.N., Western powers and Russia. The province has been run by the U.N. and NATO since 1999 when the alliance's bombing forced Serbs to halt their crackdown on the separatists and pull out.

The crackdown was led by former Serb leader, Slobodan Milosevic, who was toppled in 2000 by pro-democracy politicians. The new leadership contends that, despite Milosevic's devastating brutality in Kosovo, Serbs cannot give up completely on the southern province, considered Serbia's historic heartland.

"It's an inertia of old, failed policies," Djukanovic said about the comments from Belgrade. "Whatever Kosovo becomes in the future, it borders Montenegro" and needs good relations with neighbors.

Montenegro itself declared independence from Serbia earlier this year. Belgrade did not contest that move because Montenegro was a partner republic from the old Yugoslav federation, but insists that Kosovo is not entitled to the same.

Ceku declared after his Friday meeting with Djukanovic that Kosovo would follow in Montenegro's steps.

Djukanovic himself is expected to step down as Montenegro's prime minister Wednesday.

His Democratic Party of Socialists triumphed in recent elections, but Djukanovic -for years the most powerful figure in Montenegro -said he would not seek a third term and has hand-picked a trusted aide, Justice Minister Zeljko Sturanovic, as his successor.

UK ENVOY PRAISES MONTENEGRO FOR KOSOVO PM VISIT

2006-11-07T20:01:00.000-05:00

Text of report by Montenegrin Mina news agencyPodgorica, 7 November: A visit to Montenegro by the prime minister of the Kosovo provisional government, Agim Ceku, was a natural and positive move, which was carefully considered by the Montenegrin government.The non-residential UK ambassador in Montenegro, David Gowen, expressed this view in his talks with [outgoing] Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic.He went on to say that Montenegro had previously played a significant role regarding regional stability.Gowan praised the government and other institutions on their success in resolving issues relating to internal developments and efforts to join the Euro-Atlantic family, a statement by the government said.He added the door is open for Montenegro joining these integration processes and that the country can count on strong support from the United Kingdom.Djukanovic said that the British government's swift recognition of Montenegro's independence and the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries at ambassadorial level served as the founding blacks for strengthening ties.The prime minister said that in the coming period the Montenegrin government would continue to focus on strengthening political stability and developing a multiethnic and democratic society, economic growth and further strengthening of macroeconomic stability.Source: Mina news agency, Podgorica, in Serbian 1648 gmt 7 Nov 06

Kosovo issue sours relations between Serbia and Montenegro

2006-11-07T19:58:00.000-05:00

Montenegro's government leader on Tuesday rejected Serbia's criticism about his recent meeting with the separatist leader of Kosovo, the breakaway province whose future status is being discussed in U.N.-mediated talks.Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said he saw no problem in meeting last week with Agim Ceku, the ethnic Albanian leader of Kosovo, which has been an international protectorate since the 1998-99 war there between Serb troops and the separatist rebels."I absolutely reject any objections from Serbia concerning Ceku's visit ... we did not discuss Kosovo's future status," said Djukanovic, following accusations by Serbian officials that receiving Ceku was a "stab in the back" to Serbia's efforts to prevent Kosovo's secession.Serbia's leadership has said that accepting Ceku as a visiting statesman meant Montenegro's readiness to recognize Kosovo as a state.Talks over Kosovo's future are under way under the auspices of the U.N., Western powers and Russia. The province has been run by the U.N. and NATO since 1999 when the alliance's bombing forced Serbs to halt their crackdown on the separatists and pull out.The crackdown was led by former Serb leader, Slobodan Milosevic, who was toppled in 2000 by pro-democracy politicians. The new leadership contends that, despite Milosevic's devastating brutality in Kosovo, Serbs cannot give up completely on the southern province, considered Serbia's historic heartland."It's an inertia of old, failed policies," Djukanovic said about the comments from Belgrade. "Whatever Kosovo becomes in the future, it borders Montenegro" and needs good relations with neighbors.Montenegro itself declared independence from Serbia earlier this year. Belgrade did not contest that move because Montenegro was a partner republic from the old Yugoslav federation, but insists that Kosovo is not entitled to same.Ceku declared after his Friday meeting with Djukanovic that Kosovo would follow in Montenegro's steps.Djukanovic himself is expected to step down as Montenegro's prime minister on Wednesday.His Democratic Party of Socialists triumphed in recent elections, but Djukanovic for years the most powerful figure in Montenegro said he would not seek a third term and has hand-picked a trusted aide, Justice Minister Zeljko Sturanovic, as his successor.

SAME OLD SERBIA RESISTANCE TO CHANGE WILL KEEP IT OUT OF THE EU

2006-11-06T20:03:00.000-05:00

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania)

Recent developments in Serbia, the Serbian part of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo continue to stand as barriers to Serbia's joining the European Union and reaping for its people the economic benefits of that partnership.Two votes last month highlighted the problem. The first, general elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina Oct. 1, including the election of the Serb, Muslim and Croat presidents who together make up the country's presidency, showed continued loyalty on the part of the three groups to nationalist, separatist representatives. The Serb president, Nebojsa Radmanovic, and his party oppose the abolition of the political divisions incorporated in the 1995 Dayton peace accords that ended the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is generally considered that the EU would be reluctant to move toward membership for Bosnia-Herzegovina with the current divisions intact.The second vote was an Oct. 29 referendum on Serbia's new constitution, which includes an assertion that Kosovo is an "integral part of Serbia." The referendum was approved by 96 percent of the voters.The problem is that the United Nations, which has governed Kosovo since 1999, wants to unload it to the EU by the end of the year. The United States currently has 1,000 troops in Kosovo.A solution would involve granting Kosovo independence, or some form of self-government, perhaps with continued international oversight. The new arrangement would be dominated by the 90 percent of the people who are Albanian, but the rights of the Serbs -- who account for less than 10 percent -- will need to be guaranteed. The restatement of Kosovo's status in the new Serbian constitution obviously doesn't help.Serbian resistance to change in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, in addition to its refusal to turn over two prominent former Bosnian Serb leaders to international authorities for trial, continues to be a barrier to Serbia's progress toward adherence to the EU as well.Serbia can be respected for its independence, but its approach to the problems of the region does not seem to be in its people's best interests.

Dealing With Serbia; Kosovo may soon become Europe's newest independent nation. But it will be a painful birth, especially in Belgrade.

2006-11-06T20:02:00.000-05:00

BYLINE: By Michael Meyer

SECTION: OPINION; Pg. 0

LENGTH: 681 words

Serbia is crafting a new constitution, and a troubling document it is. The preamble establishes Cyrillic as the nation's official alphabet, notwithstanding substantial minorities of Albanians, Hungarians and Muslims. It declares that "Serbia is the homeland of the Serbs," an eerie echo of the ethnic nationalism that brought the former Yugoslavia to grief. Most unsettling, it claims Kosovo as a "constituent part of Serbia's territory," never to be relinquished.And yet, Belgrade clearly does not want most of the people living there. The electoral list of citizens eligible to vote in a popular referendum on the document, last weekend, excluded all the province's majority Albanians. Meanwhile, the otherwise relatively liberal government in Belgrade has been indulging in some veiled military swagger, darkly asserting its right to "defend its borders," presumably with force, wherever they might lie--even as it professed no desire to actually control Kosovo itself.Is another Balkan crisis brewing? Will Serbia trip yet again on its long, slow slog toward Europe? No. What's playing out is a delicate political game, complicated by an explosion of classic Serbian schizophrenia. U.N. negotiations on the future of Kosovo, wrapping up in Vienna, will soon recommend some form of independence. It's not "if" but "when," says Daniel Serwer at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington. "The big question is how to get the Serbs to accept it." Insiders at the talks originally expected the U.N. Security Council to seal their verdict by the end of the year, despite Russian resistance. But last week, top U.S. and European diplomats were in Pristina, the Kosovar capital, telling Albanians that they might have to wait a bit. Serbia, they explained, needs more time to get its collective head around the divorce.A recent poll by the Center for Free Elections and Democracy in Belgrade tells why. According to its numbers, 58 percent of Serbs want to hold on to Kosovo--even though only 12 percent believe they can. Political leaders also see the handwriting on the wall. Rationally, they know Kosovo is long gone. Politically, they don't want to be tarred forever in the country's notoriously obsessive historical consciousness as the ones who "lost Kosovo. "They want the decision to be imposed on them," says a U.S. diplomat close to the negotiations.But not too fast. National elections look likely to be called in December or early next year. Publicly, moderate political leaders, including Serbian President Boris Tadic, oppose Kosovo's independence and extol the new constitution as an emphatic vote against it. Privately, many of these same politicians are prepared to accept it as the price of Serbia's eventual integration into the European Union. But if independence comes too quickly, they fear, it will play to the electoral advantage of their more extremist opponents--specifically the Serbian Radical Party of indicted war criminal Vojislav Seselji, who would not think twice about wrenching the nation from its tentatively westward path.In this stage-battle for public perception, Serbia's moderates play King Canutes, sweeping back a rising tide, the new constitution as their broom. Those looking on from outside should not be alarmed. That malodorous preamble will be snuffed out as soon as Kosovo is cut loose. Meanwhile, it's Serbia's safety valve. This is not to say there's no real danger. Were power to indeed shift toward Serbia's radicals, the play-acting could turn genuinely ugly. Serbia might well be caught up in another irredentist, nationalist surge.It's also possible the international community will blow it. If negotiators recommend full and internationally recognized independence, the question is whether the Russians can be persuaded to put forgo a veto in the Security Council. Or the United Nations may well opt for something less: an end to its protectorate, say, leaving Kosovo to seek international recognition on its own. In that case, warns Serwer, "Kosovo could end up in limbo." That would do no one any good--Kosovo, Serbia or the West.

KOSOVO SLAMS SERBIAN REACTION TO CEKU'S MONTENEGRO VISIT

2006-11-06T19:59:00.000-05:00

Text of report by Kosovo Albanian newspaper Koha Ditore on 5 NovemberPrishtina [Pristina], 4 November: The Serbian government's reaction to Kosova [Kosovo] Prime Minister Agim Ceku's visit to Montenegro is a provocation by this government toward Kosova, Kosova government spokeswoman Ulpiana Lama said on Saturday [4 November].In her view, the Serbian Government's reaction is interference in relations between two neighbouring countries and the Serbian Government cannot react in this fashion.She added, "Serbia's position on neighbouring countries' relations with Kosova should change. It should change its policies by accepting the new reality created in the Balkans, just like all the other countries, which have accepted this reality; even though Serbia is the last one, it is better late than never," Lama said.Source: Koha Ditore, Pristina, in Albanian 5 Nov 06

Kosovo's Ceku meets Slovak foreign minister, demands independence

2006-11-06T19:58:00.000-05:00

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian prime minister Agim Ceku said on Monday that his U.N.-run province will soon become independent from Serbia."Kosovo's virtual independence is a fact ... we would however, prefer a U.N. resolution about that," said Ceku, a former rebel commander, after meeting Slovak Foreign Minister Jan Kubis.Ceku asked Slovakia to back Kosovo's independence. "Kosovo's independence must be achieved as soon as possible," he said. Ceku offered guarantees for the rights of ethnic minorities, including Serbs.Kubis has said that Slovakia will not take a view until Maarti Ahtisaari, the United Nations-appointed mediator for the Kosovo talks, presents his proposals on Kosovo's status.The talks are deadlocked but Ahtisaari must submit his recommendations on Kosovo's future to the U.N. Security Council before the end of 2006.Kosovo's majority Albanians want the province to become an independent state while the minority Serbs want it to remain part of Serbia. Last month, voters in Serbia endorsed a new constitution that reasserts that the province is an integral part of the country.Last week, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he was against Kosovo's independence as it could spark regional tension and serve as a bad example for countries which might want to solve their problems in a similar way.Kosovo has been under U.N. administration an NATO protection since U.S.-led bombing halted a Serb crackdown on the ethnic Albanian separatists in 1999.

Serbia tells Kosovo talks envoy to resign

2006-11-06T19:57:00.000-05:00

Belgrade on Monday told the United Nations envoy to Kosovo talks to resign, accusing him of bias against Serbia in negotiations on the future status of the disputed province."It would be best if (Martti) Ahtisaari resigned on his own because he has failed to organise serious talks and achieve a compromise," the independent FoNet news agency quoted government spokesman Srdjan Djuric as saying.Djuric accused Ahtisaari, a former Finnish president, of trying to control the talks and impose a solution that he had come up with before they began in February."Ahtisaari was certainly not given a mandate to secretly write with Albanians any paper on Kosovo, so it has been a failure in advance," Djuric said of the negotiations.Kosovo is formally still a part of Serbia but has been administered by the UN for the past seven years. Its ethnic Albanian majority wants independence but Serbia is not prepared to allow this."It is high time that Ahtisaari leaves this job to a new international mediator, who would stick to the UN Charter and international law from the beginning," Djuric said.Simultaneously, the Kosovo Albanian negotiating team said there was no reason to continue direct talks with Belgrade because they had failed so far."The Unity Team is convinced that the talks with Belgrade cannot bring any outcome. Thus the team is of the opinion that it is absolutely profitless... to even think of continuing the negotiations," said spokesman Skender Hyseni.Hyseni told reporters the team was "ready to continue contacts and partnership with the international community untill the (decision on final) status is completed".Ahtisaari said in October that eight months of negotiations between Belgrade and the leaders of Kosovo's ethnic-Albanian majority had led nowhere and suggested a deal be imposed.He is expected on Friday to present his recommendations to the Contact Group of six powerful nations overseeing peace in the Balkans.A Kosovo newspaper reported last week that Ahtisaari had proposed offering "limited sovereignty" to the ethnic Albanians, who comprise around 90 percent of the province's two million population.Kosovo has been managed by the UN since 1999, when a 78-day NATO bombing campaign halted a crackdown by Serbian forces against Kosovo's separatist Albanian rebels.Kosovo has been in limbo ever since. Its future status was set to be resolved by the year's end. But a decision could be delayed because of an expected Serbian general election in December.Speaking during a visit the Slovakian capital Bratislava on Monday, Kosovo's ethnic-Albanian prime minister, Agim Ceku, urged the international community not to delay its decision on the province's status."One of the messages we brought here (to) Bratislava... is the necessity to avoid a delay. I think delay will not bring any benefits to anyone. Ahtisaari is ready. He has prepared his package, his proposals," Ceku said. "We hope that a decision will be taken before February."

Independence days - The future of Kosovo

2006-11-02T20:52:00.000-05:00

(c) The Economist Newspaper Limited, London 2006. All rights reserved
A Serbian province looks to independence

An independent Kosovo is coming. The question is how best to achieve it

THE shabby manoeuvring that triggered first war and then the break-up of Yugoslavia began in Kosovo in 1989, when Slobodan Milosevic scrapped the Serbian province's autonomous status. Now the Balkans have turned full circle, back to negotiations over Kosovo's final status. But this time there is no doubt as to the result: independence from Serbia.

Kosovo is an emotional matter for Serbs. It lay at the heart of their medieval empire, it is where they lost a battle in 1389 that led to 500 years of Ottoman rule and it has some of their main religious sites. It is a Serbian province, not an ex-Yugoslav republic like Macedonia or Montenegro. Yet since NATO's war with Serbia in 1999, Kosovo has been run by the United Nations, not Belgrade. Over 90% of its 2m people are ethnic Albanians who will settle for nothing short of independence.

This remains true despite the recent noisy (if narrow) approval of a new constitution for Serbia reaffirming Kosovo as an integral part of the country. The constitution and the election that will follow, probably in December, are mere delaying tactics by a Serbian government that is not ready to take the blame for “losing Kosovo”. The issue for the UN envoy overseeing the negotiations, Martti Ahtisaari, is whether conditions can be attached to independence to make it more palatable to Serbia (see page 45).

One such must clearly be the guaranteed protection of all ethnic minorities in Kosovo, especially the 100,000 or so Serbs who remain. That will require local autonomy to be given to municipalities, including Serb ones, which may necessitate redrawing boundaries; and full protection of Serbian religious sites. Another condition may be stopping Kosovo uniting with neighbours (eg, Albania). All this means keeping NATO troops and international observers in Kosovo, even after independence. Other possibilities—partitioning off the Serb-dominated bit of north Kosovo, refusing to let Kosovo join the United Nations—are unlikely to make anyone happier.

Nasty side effects

In short, it seems unlikely that any way can be found of dressing up Kosovo's independence to make it more acceptable to Belgrade. A conditional independence may thus have to be imposed internationally. Russia could block formal approval of this by the UN Security Council, so it may be up to individual countries to choose whether to recognise Kosovo. Most will surely do so, leaving non-recognisers (including Serbia) to follow later. Indeed, some Serbian leaders might welcome such an outcome, since it would show that they had done their utmost to obstruct Kosovo's independence.

Independence without Belgrade's consent may be regrettable, but it is better than denying it altogether, since this would only lead to renewed fighting. Yet it carries two big dangers. The first is of leaving Serbia, the biggest country in the region, in a disgruntled, nationalistic grump. A resentful Serbia may be unable to start another war, but it could still cause trouble across the Balkans. The way to avoid this is for the European Union to lure Serbia back onto the path towards accession negotiations, which it will also be doing for Kosovo. Indeed, it is the EU, not the UN or NATO, that must now play the decisive role. That will take money, but ultimately it also means taking in the western Balkan countries as members.

The second danger is of setting an awkward precedent. Leaders of the (Bosnian Serb) Republika Srpska already ask why, if Montenegro and Kosovo can be independent, they cannot be. Russia mutters menacingly about Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two enclaves in Georgia, and Transdniestria, in Moldova (though it keeps strangely quiet over Chechnya). But parallels between countries and ethnic groups rarely hold. Few people have been as attacked and oppressed as the Kosovars. Nor should “ethnic cleansing” be rewarded, which it would be in an independent Bosnian Serb republic or Abkhazia. Kosovo's loss of autonomy started the Balkan wars; its independence may, with luck, end them.

German court rejects Serb claim over NATO attack

2006-11-02T19:55:00.000-05:00

(Adds Amnesty comment paragraphs 11-12)

BERLIN, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Germany's highest appeals court on Thursday rejected a claim by a group of Serbs for compensation from Germany for NATO air strikes in 1999 which killed 10 Serbian villagers and injured 30.

The court said German law made no provision for compensation between a state and individual people, only between states, and noted that German aircraft did not take part in the attack.

"There is no breach of conduct by German soldiers or authorities because German planes were not directly involved in the attack," the court said in a statement.

The attack took place on May 30, 1999 in the village of Varvarin in central Serbia. NATO bombers struck a bridge over the river Morava while local people were celebrating an Orthodox Christian holiday.

Most of the dead were killed in a second strike a few minutes later while they were trying to give first aid to victims of the initial attack.

In 1999, NATO operations drove Serb forces out of Kosovo, a Serbian province with a mostly ethnic Albanian population.

The 35 Serbs who brought the case against NATO member Germany and claimed between them about 530,000 euros ($675,000) argued that Germany could have used its veto on NATO attacks on what was a civilian target with no military significance.

Unable to take action against NATO as a whole, they brought the case against Germany mainly because it was where they found financial backing, a campaigner said.

"This is a case against Germany in the sense that it is a member of NATO. We wanted to bring a case in the United States but could not find the money to do so," Gordana Milanovic of the NATO-War Victims Claim Compensation Project told Reuters.

She said interest in Germany was aroused by a report by human rights group Amnesty International which in 2000 criticised NATO for failing to suspend the attack on the Varvarin bridge after it was evident they had hit civilians.

Amnesty said the court's decision showed contempt for the development of international law.

"Contrary to the court's argument, individuals -- not only states -- are entitled to compensation in cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity," said Amnesty International international law expert Nils Geissler.

A plaintiffs' lawyer told Reuters it was unclear whether the group of Serbs would take further action.

"We do not exclude the possibility that we will take this further -- it would go next to the Constitutional Court -- but it is too early to say yet," lawyer Joachim Kummer told Reuters.

Lower courts in Bonn and Cologne rejected the suit.

Kosovo premier says Russian stance on status "not constructive"

2006-11-02T19:54:00.001-05:00

Text of report in English by independent internet news agency KosovaLive

Prishtina [Pristina], 2 November: Responding to the Russian demarche sent to the EU member states that Moscow will not agree with any decision that will not be accepted by Serbia, Kosova Prime Minister Agim Ceku said that this stance is not constructive or realistic.

"We think that, regardless of this stance, Russia will preserve the unity of the Contact Group and the UN Security Council. I do not believe that Russia has this stance only because it wants to support Serbia," said Ceku.

Prime Minister Ceku said that direct meetings with Russian authorities were requested because of these dilemmas in order to clear up the stance of the Kosovar party, as well as to inform Moscow about the arguments of the Albanians.

Regarding the visit to Moscow, which was requested by the Kosova Government, Ceku said that the chief of the Russian office in Prishtina and the Russian ambassador in Belgrade have sent a letter to the Russian authorities recommending them to accept the visit.

"Our request was taken into consideration and we expect a quick answer," says Ceku.

Russia sent a demarche to all the EU member states, reading that "Russian Federation will not agree on any decision that will not be accepted by Belgrade, the Contact Group, or the Security Council."

Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 2 Nov 06

Serbian aide warns Ahtisaari against "secret deal" with Kosovo Albanians

2006-11-02T19:54:00.000-05:00

Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet

Belgrade, 2 November: Serbian prime minister's adviser Aleksandar Simic today told FoNet that if it was true that UN special Kosovo envoy Martti Ahtisaari had made some secret plan with the [Kosovo Albanian] separatists in Pristina, behind Serbia's back, then he must know that this paper was absolutely worthless.

"It is especially worthless if it is made and if it is not in line with the UN Charter, and also if it disrupts the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia," Simic emphasized, noting that "Serbia will never allow experiments with international law on its territory".

He warned that the UN special envoy's task was not to draft secret papers, but rather that Ahtisaari was obliged to organize talks during which obligatorily acceptable and compromise solutions would be reached, which "should not violate, but respect and value the tenets of international law".

"The government of Serbia, this one and every future government, as well as all other state institutions, are fully obliged by the popular will which confirmed the constitution, which clearly defines Kosovo-Metohija as an inalienable part of Serbia. Therefore, each paper by Ahtisaari must contain this fact," Simic emphasized.

Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1341 gmt 2 Nov 06

A province prepares to depart - Serbia and Kosovo

2006-11-02T19:53:00.000-05:00

(c) The Economist Newspaper Limited, London 2006. All rights reserved
The likely independence of Kosovo

Despite its last-minute manoeuvring, Serbia now seems certain to lose Kosovo

WHAT you see is not always what you get. Serbia has a new constitution stating that Kosovo is an inalienable part of the country. Serb leaders told their people that, if they voted for the constitution in a referendum on October 28th-29th, it would speed their entrance into the European Union. But as Danas, a Serbian daily, noted tartly, “They promised a Kosovo in Serbia and a Serbia in Europe. It is hard to tell which is further away.” Politics in the Balkans has been going through a surreal phase—but reality is around the corner, in the form of Kosovo's independence.

Serbia has needed a new constitution ever since the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. The old one was designed when Serbia was part of a bigger country, with Montenegro. How odd then that, when Martti Ahtisaari, a former Finnish president who was asked by the United Nations to oversee negotiations between Serbs and Albanians on Kosovo's final status, said he would present his plans at the end of October, Serbia's leaders should have rushed a new constitution through parliament with almost no debate.

The leaders of all main parties rallied to the cause, asking people to vote in the referendum, which needed a 50% turnout to be valid. An aggressive campaign was launched, with millions of text messages sent out to remind people to cast their ballots. Yet only 55% actually voted, many of them late in the day. Suspicious eyebrows were raised; one politician who had called for a boycott declared that he did not believe the threshold had been reached. But given the chaos that a failed vote would have caused, nobody of significance was prepared to question its validity.

The reason for holding the referendum now was to delay, even by a few months, the loss of Kosovo. The idea is that, with the constitution adopted, Serbia will hold an election before Kosovo goes, stopping the extremist Radical Party from picking up more disaffected votes. This has been accepted by Mr Ahtisaari and other diplomats dealing with the Balkans. The election may be held in December. Serbia's president, Boris Tadic, wants a presidential election too, but this is being resisted by the prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica. He fears that Mr Tadic's popularity might pull in votes for his Democratic Party, reducing Mr Kostunica's chances of becoming prime minister again.

Serbian leaders also argued that a vote for the constitution would tell the world that Kosovo belonged to Serbia and should never be given independence. Most Serbs would like that to be true. But opinion polls show that few believe independence can be prevented. “Lies, lies, lies,” commented a taxi driver as he passed a billboard demanding a yes vote to keep Kosovo. “It was lost years ago.”

Since the war of 1999 Serbia's southern province has been under the jurisdiction of the UN. Some 90% of its 2m people are ethnic Albanians who want nothing short of independence. Yet, ever since Mr Ahtisaari began his talks last February, Mr Kostunica has been repeating that Kosovo will never be independent. Now it seems he may have been playing a cleverer hand than some have thought.

What seems to be happening is that his government, the Kosovo Albanians and the outside powers involved (the “Contact Group”) are moving towards a messy and perhaps temporary solution. The scenario goes as follows. With Serbia holding an election in December, Mr Ahtisaari puts off presenting a final version of his plan to the UN Security Council. When he does so, it will suggest that Kosovo becomes independent but with limits placed on its sovereignty for some years to come. An EU team is in Pristina planning a mission to take over from the present UN one, which will be wound up. The EU is planning a similar set-up to the way Bosnia has been run since 1995. A post will be created called, probably, the International Civilian Representative, who will at the same time represent the EU. As in Bosnia, the job will come with considerable powers to intervene in the running of Kosovo. The NATO-led force now in place will remain.

Right now, says Enver Hoxhaj, a member of the Kosovo Albanian negotiating team, “The real talks have...begun. They are not between Pristina and Belgrade, but between the members of the Contact Group.” The key ones are the Americans and the British, who support independence, and the Russians, who do not. Trade-offs between them are being proposed, some involving issues unrelated to the Balkans, such as Iran. But what is expected to be agreed by the end of March is a new UN resolution that avoids using the word “independence”. At this point Kosovo's parliament will declare independence unilaterally. Some, perhaps most, countries will recognise the new state—but others, including Serbia, will not.

Kosovo's Albanians will be happy with this—but they will have a bitter pill to swallow too. The Serb-inhabited north of Kosovo (north Mitrovica and beyond) will ignore independence and continue to operate as it does now—which is, in effect, as part of Serbia. Whether Serbs in the rest of Kosovo then choose to flee depends on what happens. In the long run Mr Kostunica may hope for a formal partition. Some Albanians would like that, but only if they get Albanian-inhabited parts of south Serbia in exchange. Partition, sighs one diplomat, is “the love that dares not speak its name”. If Kosovo can be partitioned, why not Macedonia and Bosnia?

Kosovo Albanian politicians seem curiously resigned to losing control of the north. Many think that, in the long run, Serbia will be forced to recognise the new Kosovo's territorial integrity as the price it has to pay to join the EU. In the short run, it is fashionable also to refer to the Irish precedent. Until 1999 the Irish Republic claimed the whole island of Ireland under its constitution, but it did not act on it. A future Serbia, with Kosovo still enshrined in its constitution, could take the same approach. If it does not, says Milica Delevic-Djilas, head of Perspektiva, a new think-tank meant to produce ideas about the Balkans and European integration, “It's the end of regional co-operation and of our aspirations for the EU.”

Future of Kosovo in question Independence likely, but only in name

2006-11-01T20:08:00.000-05:00

Nicholas Wood
International Herald Tribune
887 words
1 November 2006
International Herald Tribune
2
3
English
© 2006 International Herald Tribune. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights reserved.
All expectations are that, in the next few months, Kosovo will claim an internationally sanctioned independence, concluding a titanic struggle by the United Nations and Western governments to close a chapter that began with its bloody ethnic war. But it is unlikely to be the conclusion the United Nations hoped for, after having invested seven years supervising the enclave at a cost of about $1.3 billion a year. That is because it seems increasingly evident that the West will need to retain far greater responsibilities than it wanted.

The outlook has changed with the failure of both the Albanian and Serbian sides to reach an agreement in nine months of negotiations, in particular since the Serbs are refusing to recognize Albanian- dominated institutions in what has been a territory dear to their religious and cultural heritage. The negotiations are dragging on, raising the likelihood that a solution will be imposed. That would end a process that began with the breakup of the former Yugoslavia 15 years ago, which led to wars in Croatia, Bosnia and, finally, Kosovo. For Western Europe, the wish has always been that resolving Kosovo, the last of the three problem areas, would end the risk of violent disputes over borders and alleviate the need to have a heavy international presence both in troops and in civil administration on the ground. Planning is already under way for a European Union- led mission to take over from the UN.

"Everybody is anxious to solve this," said Joachim Rucker, head of the United Nations mission in Kosovo. "It is the last bit of the Balkan puzzle."

The political calendar in Serbia leaves unclear exactly when a resolution might come: possibly next year, after Serbian elections, although the Americans are eager to conclude things without delay. The Americans are not heavily invested in Kosovo but would be expected to pay some of costs of establishing a more independent state. Whatever the timing, it seems that foreign officials will retain extensive powers for some time to come, UN and EU officials here say. With high levels of poverty in Kosovo, the financial costs may continue to be substantial. "I think the EU is going to be in for a bit of a shock," said Anthony Welch, coordinator of a UN- commissioned review of Kosovo's future security needs. "I think their role is going to have to be a little more hands-on. And it is going to cost a lot."

Kosovo has remained under UN control since the province was prized away in June 1999 from Yugoslav security forces accused of committing atrocities against the majority Albanian population. Its sovereignty remains in limbo: While Kosovo is formally part of Serbia, the six nations overseeing the negotiations on its future say it cannot return to Belgrade's rule. At this point, the parameters of an imposed settlement are clear, according to officials responsible for planning the succession to the UN mission. With Russia openly opposed to Kosovo's independence Moscow says that would set a precedent for other breakaway states officials say it is unlikely that a UN resolution will grant the province full statehood. Instead a resolution may allow other countries to recognize Kosovo as they wish. "The Security Council would issue a mandate for a mission led by the European Union, and invite individual countries to recognize Kosovo," Welch said. Kosovo would not have a seat in the UN General Assembly, a key Serbian wish. The European Union says it is eager not to duplicate the overarching powers and cumbersome bureaucracy the UN had in Kosovo, which at one stage totaled 11,000 people and included international police officers a presence that has been a source of tension with the majority Albanian population. EU officials say their new mission will have a substantially reduced level. The new office, headed by an international civilian representative, will have limited powers. It could dismiss local politicians, or annul laws, but only if they were deemed to be interfering with the peace settlement. Those powers would be reviewed at yearly intervals. "We will be limited in scope and in power, because we believe the philosophy has to be one of ownership and accountability," said Torbjorn Sohlstrom, head of the small team of EU officials setting up the mission that will take over for the UN.

The EU's principal role would be to put into place the UN- sanctioned peace settlement, much of which is likely to focus on the ethnic Albanian-dominated government's provision for minorities. Decentralization would grant the Serbian municipal authorities in Kosovo a substantial say over their own affairs. But Serbian opposition to the international community's plans might require a more heavy-handed approach, perhaps even forcing the EU office to appoint representatives if the Serbs refused to elect their own. That role would continue as long as the Serbs' leader refused to recognize Kosovo's institutions, Sohlstrom said.

"Status implementation will depend on the level of cooperation by the Kosovar Serbs," he said. With European Union enthusiasm for its further enlargement put on hold, the prospect of a greater European responsibility in Kosovo is unlikely to be welcomed in the bloc's capitals.

Serbian PM says UN envoy's Kosovo proposal doomed if not in line with UN Charter

2006-11-01T20:06:00.000-05:00

Text of report by Serbian TV on 1 November

[Presenter] Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has assessed that [UN special Kosovo envoy] Martti Ahtisaari's proposal for solving the Kosovo-Metohija problem is doomed well in advance if it is not in line with the UN Charter and if it violates the principle of Serbia's territorial sovereignty.

The Serbian government did not receive Ahtisaari's draft for solving the Kosovo-Metohija status, nor did we have any opportunity at all to discuss it with him, Kostunica told Tanjug.

He assessed as worrisome that Ahtisaari has so far held only a single meeting with the Serbian and Albanian side, but now had a draft which has never been discussed. Ahtisaari has not at all manage to organize serious talks over the past year, Kostunica emphasized.

Source: RTS 1 TV, Belgrade, in Serbian 1400 gmt 1 Nov 06

Kosovo independence looms but brief delay on cards

2006-10-31T21:33:00.001-05:00

BELGRADE, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Kosovo got the clearest signs yet on Tuesday that independence is coming, but the United States and the European Union seemed divided on whether to delay a U.N. decision so that Serbia can hold an election first.

"It is the firm view of the U.S. that a delay offers no advantages to any party," said Frank Wisner, U.S. envoy to the breakaway Serbia province that has been run by the United Nations for the past seven years.

"The United States further believes that delay can only leave in limbo the definition of this region, which needs to close its door on the past and to define its future," he said in Belgrade after meeting Serbian officials.

Western powers are wary that delaying a U.N. decision on a Kosovo proposal by envoy Martti Ahtisaari -- reported to recommend a two-year path to statehood -- could invite trouble from ethnic Albanian extremists.

But some fear pushing it through before a Serbian election could boost the vote for anti-Western nationalist hardliners.

The U.S. is not convinced by the argument but Wisner, leaving room for compromise, said that until an election date was set Washington could not say if a delay would make sense.

The U.N. launched talks on Kosovo's final status in February aiming to complete them by end 2006. But there has been no compromise on the key issue. Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority wants independence; Serbia rejects the demand.

Ahtisaari has given U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan his 'preliminary ideas' on the future of Kosovo, which do not use the word independence yet, but offer a clear path to statehood over the next two years.

The plan sets "criteria which characterise an independent country", a senior Western diplomat in Kosovo told Reuters.

Diplomats say the blow to Serb pride from losing 15 percent of its territory could tilt voters towards hardline anti-Western nationalist parties if it is delivered before a Serbian election now considered imminent.

With this risk in mind, European Union foreign affairs chief Javier Solana said earlier on Tuesday that Ahtisaari should delay presenting his final plan, if the Serbs schedule an election to be held before the end of this year.

"We would wait to make the decision on what would be the final status," Solana told reporters in Madrid.

CLEARER TIMETABLE COMING UP

The Contact Group on Kosovo -- the US, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Russia -- is to meet on Nov.10, and may decide on timing if Serbia has set an election date by then.

Most Serb parties, including the ultranationalist Radicals, the country's strongest, say elections should be held as soon as possible. If they are scheduled for December, the decision on Kosovo would likely be stalled by a couple of months at most.

But Kosovo Albanians, who have been waiting in limbo to get their own state for seven years, oppose any delay at all.

The province of 2 million has been run by the UN since 1999, when a 78-day NATO bombing war drove out Serb forces accused of killing civilians while fighting separatist guerrillas.

The Kosovo-based diplomat said Ahtissari's plan would begin by letting Kosovo join world bodies reserved for sovereign states. States would subsequently be free to recognise it as Europe's newest independent state, or not.

The compromise is reportedly the result of opposition from Russia -- U.N. veto holder and sometime Serb ally -- to the notion of a U.N. resolution directly making Kosovo independent.

Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku said "it would be a problem" if Ahtisaari's plan does not use the word 'independence'. But in a conciliatory note he added that Kosovo's government would look carefully at "the substance of the proposal", not the letter.

"It is very important that the substance of his proposal means independence," he told a news conference.

The impact of a delay in the decision for the highly volatile province, however, may be harder to gauge. Some Kosovo Albanian hardliners believe they ought to have declared independence unilaterally long ago.

U.N. agencies and NATO peacekeepers both have contingency plans for trouble as the decision process reaches its climax. (additional reporting by Andrew Hay in Madrid)

U.S. envoy for Kosovo urges conclusion of status talks

2006-10-31T21:33:00.000-05:00

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - A U.S. envoy involved in negotiations to resolve Kosovo's postwar status said Tuesday that the talks must finish by the end of the year, as scheduled, and any delay would leave the region in "limbo."

The U.N.-mediated talks began in February, but have been made little progress in bridging the deeply conflicting positions of both sides. Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians insist on independence and have rejected offers of broad autonomy from Belgrade, which wants to keep the southern province within Serbia's border.

"We should move ahead and conclude these negotiations as soon as possible," said the U.S. envoy, Frank Wisner, after meetings with senior Serbian officials in Belgrade. "This is the firm view of the United States."

Serbia's breakaway southern province has been a U.N.-protectorate since the end of the war between Serb military forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in 1999. Most analysts have predicted that Kosovo will be granted some form of independence.

Wisner's visit to Belgrade came only days after Serbia approved in a referendum a new constitution which states that Kosovo is an integral part of the republic, regardless of the outcome of the U.N.-brokered talks.

The ethnic Albanians in Kosovo have dismissed the Serbian charter as irrelevant, but Serbian leaders have argued that popular backing on the Kosovo issue would improve their position at the talks.

Wisner said only that the "Serbian constitution is a Serbian matter."

He emphasized that any delay in the Kosovo talks must be avoided.

"Delay can only frustrate the hopes of those who live in Kosovo, and deny clarity to Serbians," he said. "The United States further believes that the delay can only leave in limbo the definition of this region, which needs to close its door on the past and begin to define its future."

The U.S. envoy met with President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic.

Draskovic said in a statement that a compromise over Kosovo should "present a bridge between Serbia's territorial integrity and the ethnic Albanian majority's demand to run Kosovo."

Kostunica insisted that "a solution for Kosovo must be in accordance with international law ... which guarantees the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all member states."

He added that "only the United Nations Security Council can authorize a solution for Kosovo; a unilateral recognition (of Kosovo's independence) would be absolutely invalid."

Serbia perceives the United States as supportive of the ethnic Albanian bid for independence. Kostunica repeatedly has said that he is counting on Serbia's traditional ally, Russia, to block possible Kosovo independence at the U.N. Security Council where it holds veto power.

Wisner said that "the final status is still under discussion ... and will be discussed further."

Albania says Serbian constitution's claim on Kosovo unacceptable

2006-10-31T21:31:00.000-05:00

TIRANA, Albania (AP) - Albania said Tuesday that the new Serbian constitution's claim over Kosovo is unacceptable.

A Foreign Ministry statement said the charter, approved in a weekend referendum, was unhelpful at a time when international talks are under way to determine Kosovo's final status.

Since the end of the war between Serb military forces and separatists in the southern province in 1999, the predominantly ethnic Albanian territory has been run by a U.N. administration and patrolled by NATO peacekeepers.

The new Serbian constitution refers to Kosovo as an integral part of the nation.

"That was a unilateral and unproductive act," the ministry statement said.

Ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's population, are demanding independence, while Serbia wants to keep at least some control over the province.

The U.N.-mediated negotiations on its future are scheduled to finish by the end of the year, but little progress has been made in talks between the two sides.

Albania has been the strongest supporter of Kosovo's independence, though it says it has no territorial claims over the territory.

Serb, Kosovo Albanian leaders differ on meaning of referendum's approval

2006-10-30T21:30:00.001-05:00

PRISTINA, Serbia (AP) - Serbian leaders on Monday hailed the outcome of a referendum reinforcing the country's claim to the U.N.-administered province of Kosovo, but Kosovo's independence-minded ethnic Albanian majority called the result irrelevant.

Serbs and Kosovo Albanians are deadlocked over Belgrade's demands it retain some hold on the province despite Kosovo Albanians' insistence on independence -- a nettlesome divide that helped plunge the region into a war that left thousands of people dead.

While voters only narrowly passed the weekend referendum on a new constitution restating the Serb claim to Kosovo, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said the results "made it clear that we will protect our country's integrity ... and that Kosovo is part of Serbia."

Oliver Ivanovic, a Kosovo Serb leader, said the new constitution sends a "very important message" to international officials mediating in talks between Belgrade and Pristina.

"Serbia will not easily give up Kosovo, this is the main message," he said. "It tells the international community it must take into account the Serb stand as well, not only the one of (Kosovo) Albanians."

Predictably, Kosovo Albanians differed on the meaning of the vote's result.

"We consider it very irrelevant," Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku told Associated Press Television News.

The status of the province led to a war between Serbia and Kosovo that ended in June 1999, after NATO bombing forced a withdrawal by troops loyal to Slobodan Milosevic, president of what was then Serbian-dominated Yugoslavia.

Kosovo has been governed since then by the U.N., although ethnic Albanians, who constitute a more than 90-percent majority, have been granted increasing political responsibility. Along with Serbs outside Kosovo, the province's ethnic Serb minority is also vehemently opposed to independence for the province.

Kosovo was stripped of its autonomous status 1989 by Milosevic amid a building Serb crackdown on the ethnic Albanian majority. The war that followed nearly a decade later left about 10,000 people dead, most of them ethnic Albanians. About 1 million others fled temporarily to neighboring Albania and Macedonia.

The referendum -- on a new post-Milosevic era constitution that restates the Serb claim to Kosovo -- nearly foundered with barely more than the required 50 percent turnout needed to make it valid.

The EU downplayed the referendum's significance, with EU spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy saying "the issue of the future status of Kosovo" was being dealt with the U.N.-mediated talks. And she said that Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority was left off voters lists.

----

Associated Press writers Katarina Kratovac and Jovana Gec contributed to this report from Belgrade.

US welcomes Serbian constitution, except for Kosovo provision

2006-10-30T21:30:00.000-05:00

WASHINGTON, Oct 30, 2006 (AFP) -

The United States welcomed on Monday Serbia's adoption of a new constitution as a positive step for democracy, but it brushed aside the document's attempt to cement Belgrade's authority over the breakaway province of Kosovo.

Preliminary results from a weekend referendum showed voters narrowly endorsing the constitution, drafted to account for the collapse of the former Yugoslavia and, most recently, Montenegro's separation from Serbia in May.

"It's a positive step forward for the Serbian people in terms of having a democratic process to deal with what could have been very heated political disputes," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

He said thorny issues relating to the dissolution of the Serbia-Montenegro union "were dealt with in a clear, rational manner" in the new constitution.

But McCormack said provisions in the text reasserting Serbia's sovereignty over Kosovo were irrelevant given an ongoing UN-administered effort to determine the future of the province.

"That process is governed by a UN Security Council resolution," he said.

Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations since 1999 when NATO troops ousted Serbian forces from the province to halt attacks on the region's ethnic Albanian majority.

A special UN envoy for Kosovo, former Finnish president Marti Ahtisaari, has been trying to negotiate a status agreement for the province before the end of this year, but has been hamstrung by Serbian opposition.

The ethnic Albanians who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's population are seeking independence for the province, while Belgrade is only prepared to offer broad autonomy.

ANALYSIS-EU fears U.N. proposal may fall short on Kosovo

2006-10-30T21:28:00.001-05:00

BRUSSELS, Oct 30 (Reuters) - European officials are worried that a U.N. mediator will avoid outlining a clear final status for Kosovo, risking a unilateral declaration of independence that may cause a diplomatic crisis and split the European Union.

Officials familiar with Finnish mediator Martti Ahtisaari's thinking say he is set to stop short of proposing independence for the breakaway Serbian province in deference to fierce hostility from Belgrade and strong Russian opposition.

"The dangerous situation is if there is no clear recommendation as to the final status," one senior EU official said. "There is a very significant risk of that."

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, in charge of the European integration of the Western Balkans, has been urging Ahtisaari to ensure clarity in his proposals for an agreed settlement, due to be issued sometime in November.

Many European officials are urging the mediator to delay his push for a deal until after early Serbian elections possible in December, following a weekend referendum that approved a new constitution declaring Kosovo an integral part of Serbia.

But the United States and Britain are pressing for a final status agreement this year, arguing that delay risks provoking violence among Kosovo's overwhelmingly Albanian population.

Kosovo has been under United Nations protection in a state of legal limbo since 1999, when NATO waged an air campaign to drive out Serbian forces and stop ethnic cleansing.

Its prime minister, Agim Ceku, insists independence by the end of this year is the only acceptable outcome for Kosovo's 2 million people, some 90 percent of whom are ethnic Albanians.

"Nothing less than independence will be acceptable," the former general told Reuters in an interview this month.

"MESSY SCENARIO"

While Washington and London argue that Kosovo's situation is unique, Russia sees it as a precedent for changing international borders without the consent of the country concerned.

If Kosovo can have independence against Belgrade's wishes, then breakaway regions of Moldova or Georgia backed by Moscow should enjoy the same right, Russian officials contend.

The EU official said Ahtisaari, a former Finnish president and veteran negotiator often tipped for the Nobel peace prize, felt it was not his duty to make "a judgment of Solomon".

He planned to set out legal arrangements on governance, decentralisation and minority rights but leave the ultimate final status decision to the U.N. Security Council.

The Kosovo daily Express, quoting two diplomats it said had seen Ahtisaari's draft, said the plan would not include the word "independence" but recommend Kosovo be given "treaty-making powers" and the right to join international organisations.

A senior European diplomat in the Kosovo capital Pristina said the report "seems to tie in very much with what we know.

"He doesn't mention independence but Ahtisaari is describing the criteria which characterise an independent country," he said.

An EU official in Brussels said that could trigger a "messy scenario" in which the Security Council would be deadlocked and the Kosovo government, perhaps with the green light from Washington, would declare independence.

If that happened, there would be an intense diplomatic battle over recognition, with the United States likely to lead a drive for recognition against Russian resistance.

The EU risked a split between "Orthodox and Habsburg" member states closer to Serbia and others such as Britain that might recognise Kosovo individually, he said.

DELAY OR HASTEN?

An EU diplomat in Brussels said a discussion of Kosovo among ambassadors of the 25-nation bloc last week was based on the assumption that Ahtisaari would delay.

"Now it looks as if the whole schedule has been delayed. Ahtisaari will want to see Serbian elections before presenting his report. People recognise it is a very complicated process," the diplomat said.

But Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said after talks with EU officials last Friday that a delay in Kosovo's final status could affect his own country next door.

"The situation in our country is stable, however we are aware that certain risks exist on Kosovo," he said. "You need only three people, one landmine, one flag and a press communique to have an incident.

"Therefore we think a decision concerning the final status of Kosovo should be taken earlier ... The endless prolongation of the status quo is not creating a bigger space for some ideal solution. There will be no ideal solution," he said.

It was always best to take difficult decisions in the Balkans in winter, he said, before the snows melt and fighters can take to the mountains. (Additional reporting by Mark John in Brussels and Matt Robinson in Pristina)

UN envoy offers Kosovo limited sovereignty: report

2006-10-30T21:28:00.000-05:00

PRISTINA, Serbia, Oct 30, 2006 (AFP) -

The special UN envoy in talks on Kosovo's future, Martti Ahtisaari, has proposed offering the Serbian province and its ethnic-Albanian majority limited sovereignty, a report said Monday.

Ahtisaari, who has been leading talks between Belgrade and Pristina on the status of Kosovo, stepped short of proposing the independence for the UN-run province, said Kosovo's independent Express newspaper.

The Finnish diplomat recommended forming "the newest state in the Balkans ... with limited sovereignty, a continued international presence and competencies in important fields," it said, quoting unnamed diplomatic sources.

"It is clear that the competencies given to Kosovo mean only one thing -- independence with limited sovereignty," said the daily, known for its good contacts with Western diplomats.

The negotiations on the future status of the southern Serbian province, administered by the United Nations since June 1999, began in February under the auspices of the world body.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who make up around 90 percent of the province's two million population, are seeking independence from Serbia.

But the government in Belgrade and Kosovo's Serb minority insist the province -- which they consider the cradle of Serbian culture and history -- should only be granted greater autonomy.

The report came after 52.3 percent of the Serbian electorate backed a new constitution in a weekend referendum, which stresses that Kosovo is part of Serbia.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanians were barred from voting, after they boycotted earlier polls.

Earlier this month, Ahtisaari submitted a 53-page report on the course of the talks and his recommendation for Kosovo to the Contact Group of leading countries overseeing peace in the Balkans.

Its members include the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia.

Ahtisaari was against giving Kosovo full international recognition with a UN seat, foreign ministry and army, the daily said.

However, Kosovo would have an "ability to sign international treaties and agreements, including membership in some international organisations," it reported.

The European Union would take administrative control of political issues in the province from the United Nations, it added.

"Ahtisaari is waiting for comments from the Contact Group before presenting his proposal to the United Nations Security Council," it said.

The daily speculated that Kosovo's provisional parliament "would adopt (its own) new constitution and declare independence" from Serbia after the United Nations adopted a resolution on its new status.

"The Kosovo government will seek official recognition and a seat in the international organisations," it added.

The province came under United Nations and NATO control in mid-1999 after the alliance's 11-week bombing campaign ended a brutal crackdown by the Serbian security forces under the regime of late leader, Slobodan Milosevic.

The international community has insisted that UN-sponsored talks must wind up by the end of the year, but so far neither side has shown any signs of compromise.

Serbia referendum will have no affect on Kosovo status talks, prime minister says

2006-10-30T21:23:00.000-05:00

PRISTINA, Serbia (AP) - Kosovo's prime minister on Monday dismissed claims that Serbia's new referendum could influence the outcome of U.N.-led talks on the breakaway province's future status.

The weekend vote on a new Serbian constitution that asserts Belgrade's claim on Kosovo would not have "any impact at all" on the drive by Kosovo's ethnic Albanians for independence, Prime Minister Agim Ceku said.

"We consider it very irrelevant," Ceku said, adding that it "does not deserve any comment from us."

Partial results from the Saturday-Sunday referendum indicate Serb voters have approved the new constitution, replacing a 1990 charter drafted under Serbia's former dictator Slobodan Milosevic. Final results were expected later Monday.

Western powers have criticized the new constitution for its assertion over the disputed Kosovo province, which has been run by the United Nations since a 1999 NATO air campaign halted a Serb crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians.

The U.N. envoy overseeing talks on Kosovo's final status, Martti Ahtisaari, was expected to present a proposal for the province's future in mid-November. Most diplomats have said the province will likely get some sort of independence, although there are concerns about the security of the 100,000 or so Serbs still living in Kosovo.

Serbs consider Kosovo to be the birthplace of the nation and home of the medieval Serbian kingdom. But sour relations between the two communities peaked in the 1998-99 war that left some 10,000 dead before NATO's 78-day bombing campaign stopped the Serb crackdown.

Serbs approve constitution with last-minute votes

2006-10-29T19:22:00.000-05:00

BELGRADE, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Serbia adopted its first constitution of the post-Milosevic era on Sunday after a last-minute surge to the polls saved a two-day referendum from failure due to insufficient turnout.

According to preliminary results from the respected national polling organisation CESID, 51.6 percent of the electorate of 6.6 million voted in favour of the constitution.

Overall turnout was 53.5 percent.

The document of 206 articles includes a preamble reaffirming Serbian sovereignty over the breakaway province of Kosovo, whose 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority ignored the vote, saying it made no difference to their demand for independence.

The previous constitution under the late strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 1990 stripped Kosovo its autonomy and ushered in a decade of oppression culminating in a war with NATO that ended with Kosovo being removed to United Nations control.

Debate on the content of the new constitution was scant ahead of the vote, and analysis of the result focused on how close it had come to failure by banking on the emotional pull of the Kosovo issue for Serbs.

"The magic figure of 3.32 million was passed at seven o'clock (1800 GMT)," said Zoran Lucic of the respected CESID polling organisation. Exactly 50 percent had voted with one hour of polling still to go, he said. Lucic's prediction of a final turnout of more than 53 percent was later proved accurate.

FIG LEAF

The bill's reference to Kosovo as an "inalienable" part of Serbia is seen as an eleventh-hour bid to block independence.

Critics say the clause was simply a fig leaf to help leaders duck responsibility for its impending loss, as well as a device to appeal to notoriously apathetic voters.

The United States says the clause changes nothing. The Kosovo Albanian demand for independence has the sympathy of Western powers whose troops took control in 1999 to stop Milosevic's army killing civilians in a guerrilla war.

Diplomats say the United Nations could grant Kosovo a form of independence in the coming months over Serbia's objections.

Serbian President Boris Tadic had warned that rejection of the constitution would plunge Serbia into "months, maybe years" of political uncertainty. Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said it would have had "bleak and unforeseeable consequences".

Kostunica's minority coalition is on its last legs, with the resignations of its key partners in the liberal G17 Plus party in his drawer. G17 has said this would ensure early elections as soon as the constitutional vote is over.

Elections were not due until the autumn of 2007.

Kostunica is now expected to call an early election, hoping for a stronger majority to ward off constant pressure from the ultranationalist Radical Party.

The threat of Serbia turning to the Radicals in a fit of anti-Westernism if Kosovo is made independent has been used by his government to scare Western powers insisting on the handover of top war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic, a hero to the Radicals.

The European Union has punished Serbia for failing to arrest him by suspending talks on closer ties, relegating the country to the bottom of the Balkan queue for eventual membership.

But some analysts said the lukewarm response to the Kosovo rallying call had exposed the nationalist threat as an empty one. (Additional reporting by Ljilja Cvekic and Zorana Vucicevic)

Remember Kosovo - The Wall Street Journal

2006-10-27T18:59:00.000-04:00

To get some perspective on Iraq and Afghanistan, let's revisit the previous decade's big nation-building project. Eleven years after U.S.-led forces went into Bosnia and seven after Kosovo, the Balkans remain prone to violence and riven by sectarian tensions. The scale of the difficulties wasn't appreciated at the start. Yet the alternative to the uneasy peace there today was -- and remains -- misery and instability on Europe's southeastern flank.

Tough decisions now loom for the Balkans, testing nerves and American leadership. By year's end, Kosovo is to move toward "final status," which to everyone but Serbia and Russia means independence. This will take finesse, so as not to push Serbia into the wilderness or rattle the weak multi-ethnic constructs in Bosnia and Macedonia. The U.S. and Europeans are also sure to come into conflict with Russia over Kosovo.

This tussle is Slobodan Milosevic's last gift to the world. In suing for peace with NATO in 1999, the late strongman made sure Kosovo stayed Serbia's on paper, and the U.S. and the Europeans let him get away with it. Though NATO troops and a U.N. government set up camp, and Belgrade no longer held sway, Serbians could indulge the fantasy that Kosovo wasn't gone for good.

The problem has festered for seven years. A U.N. negotiator, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, tried and failed to negotiate a solution. Milosevic's democratically elected successors aren't willing to take the blame for the loss of Kosovo, and Kosovar Albanian expectations were raised so high about sovereignty that their leaders had nothing left to negotiate. Mr. Ahtisaari called off the talks, and went to work on a plan for the Security Council.

The open secret is that the Finn will propose independence, but the timing and details are contentious. Both are worth sweating over. In an unstated quid pro quo, the internationals will hold off on Kosovo until Serbia holds parliamentary elections and gets a government with a four-year mandate, presumably enough time for voters to forget the loss.

But the Serbs must first call the poll, probably slated for early December, after this weekend's referendum on a new constitution, which was drawn up when Montenegro left their rump union earlier this year. (Shrinking is a Serbian speciality.) Though the constitution reasserts the claim to Kosovo, that clause is hardly legitimate, not least since the Kosovar Albanians didn't have a say in its drafting or ratification.

Any delay beyond early December risks the renewal of ethnic violence last seen in the spring of 2004, when the Kosovar Albanians rioted. In a telephone interview this week, U.S. envoy for Kosovo, Frank Wisner, told us by phone from Pristina that America remains committed to bringing the issue before the Security Council by the end of December.

Our sources tell us that the Ahtisaari plan takes inspiration from the sovereignty with strings attached granted Germany in 1949. Kosovo may not get a U.N. seat or a standing army for a while. It won't be called "conditional independence," but it'll be conditioned. Though Belgrade wants to carve away the Serb-dominated regions of northern Kosovo, partition is not on the table. It is, however, the reality on the ground and minority Serbs, the victims of ethnic cleansing since 1999, deserve reassurances about security. As do Serbs in Serbia proper about their religious sites in Kosovo.

Structured this way, with doors kept open to the EU and NATO on the ground, an independent Kosovo could thrive as other small, new European countries have. The wild card is Russia. Vladimir Putin recently tied the fate of Kosovo to unresolved territorial disputes in his own backyard. If Kosovo wins independence, he asked, why not the Russian-run breakaway regions of Georgia -- Abkhazia and South Ossetia? (By this reasoning, Russian Chechnya should also be a candidate for a U.N. seat but by now we shouldn't expect this Kremlin regime to be rational.)

So add Kosovo to Iran, Sudan, the Caucasus and other flashpoints where Mr. Putin works overtime to sabotage American policy. Russia may find an ally in China, nervous about "precedents" for Tibet and Taiwan. With Europe preferring to react than act in the Balkans, as in general on foreign affairs, Washington will be charged with pushing any resolution through the Security Council.

Of all the arguments thrown in the way of Kosovo independence, the territorial-integrity one holds up least well. Kosovo is a unique case -- a U.N.-run region that once belonged to a now defunct state, Yugoslavia. Serbia has little legal, much less moral, claim on Kosovo. Milosevic's ethnic cleansing campaigns struck the final nails in that coffin. The "threat" to Bosnia and Macedonia is another canard. Both countries have legitimate constitutions that prohibit secession.

As ever, Balkan politics are a mess, and loud nationalists grab a lot of the attention. In the West's 12 years in the region, lots of money went to waste, empowering extremists and fostering corruption. Mass murderers like Radovan Karadzic are on the lam. NATO will need to stay on in Kosovo for many years, and the U.S. and Europe will have to remain engaged in other ways. But who can reasonably claim it's not worth it?

No two conflict zones are the same. By quirk of timing, the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan are all now at turning points. If the world has learned anything in the past decade plus, it's that trying to rebuild war-torn nations takes great amounts of perseverance, hard work -- and most of all time. In 1995, Bill Clinton promised to bring the GIs home from Bosnia within 12 months. The last U.S. troops left earlier this year.

Kosovo falls hostage to big power rivalry

2006-10-27T18:45:00.000-04:00

By Guy Dinmore in Washington
Published: October 27 2006 18:44 | Last updated: October 27 2006 18:44
The US has sent a special envoy to Kosovo and Serbia to press both sides to keep the peace as the international community prepares to decide the status of the United Nations-run province.

Diplomats and politicians on all sides expect a messy and inconclusive outcome, and fear further ethnic violence in Kosovo with peacekeepers from Nato caught in the middle.

Few believe that Martti Ahtisaari, the former Finnish president acting as UN mediator, can broker a compromise. This weekend Serbian voters are likely to approve by referendum a new constitution reaffirming Kosovo as part of Serbia, while the province’s ethnic Albanian majority overwhelmingly aspires to, and expects, full independence.

The fate of Kosovo – run by the UN and protected by Nato since the 1999 air campaign stopped ethnic cleansing by Serbia – is also hostage to the deteriorating state of relations between the US and Russia. These are complicated by rising tensions in the southern Caucasus and competing interests over Iran and energy resources.

As Russia reasserts itself on the world stage, the US and Europe are wondering what price President Vladimir Putin will exact at the UN Security Council in exchange for consenting to Kosovo’s independence, or whether he will simply block the process completely.

Mr Putin warns that independence for Kosovo would set a precedent for Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Russian-backed, separatist enclaves in Georgia. The US insists Kosovo is a “unique” case, thereby also seeking to assuage Chinese concerns over Taiwan and Tibet.

Diplomats expect Mr Ahtisaari will recommend a form of “managed” or “conditional” independence that falls short of full sovereignty, keeping Kosovo under international protection and guidance, possibly for three years.

Should Russia deprive Kosovo of the UN’s blessing for a path to independence, then the Kosovo Albanian government under Agim Ceku, prime minister, may be encouraged by the US to consider making a unilateral declaration of independence.

This heightens the risk that the Serb minority in Kosovo, mostly concentrated in Nato-protected enclaves, would follow suit and declare their own independence or allegiance to Belgrade.

Frank Wisner, the special US envoy, is expected to urge Belgrade to prevent any such breakaway move. Diplomats say his mission is to tell Kosovo and Serbia that they must accept Mr Ahtisaari’s “compromise imposed solution”.

Dimitri Simes, head of the Nixon Center think-tank which has close contact with Moscow, says Russia’s position on Kosovo is hardening but it may not have decided how it will vote at the UN.

“That depends on the overall status of the US-Russia relationship, the results of World Trade Organisation negotiations and the forthcoming meetings in November between Presidents Bush and Putin, first in Moscow and then in Hanoi,” he said.

But he warned that it might be difficult for Mr Putin to back down over Kosovo.

“The Russian leadership, including President Putin personally, is making it increasingly clear to the Bush administration that Georgia is becoming a defining issue in the US-Russia relationship the way Iran and North Korea are on the American side.”

Glen Howard, president of the Jamestown Foundation security think-tank, said Mr Putin had “let the genie out of the bottle with nationalism” and warned of the dangers posed by a Russia seeking to regain its Soviet-era domination of the Caucasus and its strategic oil and gas pipelines.

Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, kept making concessions only for Russia to keep “upping the ante”, Mr Howard said.

It was possible the Bush administration would seek to delay Kosovo’s bid for independence and Georgia’s bid for Nato membership to keep Russia on board over Iran and North Korea, he added.

Speaking of the deadlock facing Mr Ahtisaari, one Kosovo Albanian politician commented: “We are waiting for the real talks to begin – between the US and Russia.”

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006

Kosovo announces tender for second mobile operator

2006-10-26T19:59:00.000-04:00

PRISTINA, Serbia, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The United Nations-governed Kosovo on Thursday announced a new tender for a second mobile phone operator, after the U.N. cancelled the previous one in 2004, citing irregularities.

Kosovo Telecommunications Minister Qemajl Ahmeti told a news conference that the minimum price for the operator's licence was set at 20 million euros, which prospective buyers would be expected to top up with an additional "offered price".

The regulator deciding on the offers would also take into account each bidder's proposed coverage plans, quality, prior experience in the telecom sector and local employment proposals.

"The tender will be opened on November 3 and will last for 75 days, until January 17, 2007," Ahmeti said.

Monaco Telecom, 55-percent owned by Britain's Cable and Wireless Plc , provides Kosovo's only official mobile phone service under a deal with the U.N.-created fixed-line phone company, Post and Telecom Enterprise.

It has around 350,000 users in a territory of two million people. Like Monaco Telecom, the new provider will have to use its own national calling code at least until the U.N. decides on the majority Albanians' demand for independence.

The first tender for a new mobile phone operator -- awarded to local company Mobikos, backed by Mobitel of Slovenia -- was annulled after U.S. and British diplomatic representatives voiced doubt over the transparency of the process.

The United Nations has governed Kosovo since 1999, when NATO bombs drove out Serb forces accused of ethnic cleansing in a two-year war with guerrillas.

The West is pushing for a decision on its final status around the turn of the year. Diplomats predict a form of independence under European Union supervision.

Under Kosovo's hazy legal status, Serbian mobile operators have been offering services for years, mainly for the beleaguered Serb minority. The Kosovo government says they are illegal but they have been tolerated by the U.N. mission.

Last week, the Kosovo government said it had won the backing of the U.N. to start removing antennas of the Serbian operators, except in areas where the 100,000 remaining Serb live.

Serbian constitution critic predicts weekend referendum will fail

2006-10-25T20:45:00.000-04:00

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - The main critic of Serbia's new constitution predicted Wednesday that this weekend's referendum on the new charter will fail, and accused the authorities of pressuring the citizens to vote.

Cedomir Jovanovic, the leader of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party, told the Associated Press that "there is no chance that the referendum will succeed."

The Oct. 28-29 referendum is necessary to confirm the new draft constitution which the Serbian parliament approved last month. More than half of Serbia's 6.6 million voters must turn out for the vote to be valid.

The new constitution defines Serbia as an independent state for the first time since 1918. It became necessity after Montenegro split from Serbia in June, following its own referendum on independence a month before.

But, Serbia's new constitution has sparked controversy because it declares U.N.-run province of Kosovo is an integral part of the republic, regardless of the outcome of ongoing international talks on the future status of the breakaway province.

Jovanovic and his liberal allies also have blasted the constitution because it was drawn hastily, with the support of the nationalists loyal to late ex-president Slobodan Milosevic.

"The way this constitution was passed was undemocratic," he said referring to lack of public discussion about the draft. "If they (authorities) haven't consulted us about this, I don't see why they would consult us about anything in the future."

Serbia's President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica have praised the constitution saying it presented a split with the era of ex-president Milosevic, and paved the way for Serbia's development after years of sanctions and international isolation.

Both have urged the citizens to turn out in large numbers on Saturday and Sunday.

In Pristina, U.S. envoy for Kosovo, Frank Wisner said Wednesday that the constitution will have no effect on the decision about the future status of the region, expected by the end of the year.

Jovanovic claimed that members of his campaign against the constitution have faced pressure and attacks similar to the era of the autocratic Milosevic, including beatings and bans on the gatherings by the anti-referendum groups.

On Tuesday, a group of Kosovo Serbs marched to Jovanovic's Belgrade party headquarters shouting insults and accusing him of treason because of his liberal policies.

Jovanovic also alleged that the citizens working in the state-run companies have been subjected to "enormous pressure" to vote in the referendum. But, he predicted the turnout will hover around 45 percent.

"The referendum cannot succeed without manipulation," he said, warning that the vote was illegal because it will be held on two days.

He added that "it only serves to help those in power remain in power."

If approved in the referendum, the new constitution will lead to early general elections, tentatively planned for mid-December.

Serb referendum has no bearing on Kosovo - US envoy

2006-10-25T20:43:00.000-04:00

(Updates with fresh quote, paragraph 10)

PRISTINA, Serbia, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday dismissed Serbian claims that a referendum this weekend on a new constitution could restore Belgrade's lost sovereignty over Kosovo.

Serbia has been rallying voters to back its new constitution as the best way to halt the secession of the country's southern province, where the ethnic Albanian majority expects to clinch independence around the turn of the year.

The draft, which replaces the defunct constitution of late strongman Slobodan Milosevic, declares the United Nations-run territory of Kosovo an integral part of Serbia.

"What happens to you is a Kosovar matter, and an international matter," Ambassador Frank Wisner, Washington's Kosovo envoy, told reporters in the capital Pristina.

"It is not a matter of Serbian sovereignty, which changed when the U.N. agreed on 1244," he said.

U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244 was adopted in June 1999 after 78 days of NATO bombing drove out Serb forces accused of atrocities and ethnic cleansing in a two-year war with Kosovo Albanian guerrillas. Ten thousand Albanians died.

The resolution placed Kosovo under U.N. stewardship, and reserved a decision on its future for the Security Council.

Seven years later, U.N. mediator Martti Ahtisaari is due to make his recommendation by the end of 2006. Diplomats predict a form of independence under European Union supervision, amputating land many Serbs consider their religious heartland.

Wisner's language appeared to reflect consensus in the West that returning Kosovo to Serb control is no longer feasible.

"In the end it will be in the interests of both nations to have a strong bilateral relationship," he said later after meeting Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim Ceku. "We are going to pursue independence by the -- sorry -- we are going to pursue final status by the end of the year."

The U.S diplomat said he counted on Albanians, who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people, to allow Serbs in the province to vote in the referendum on Saturday and Sunday.

Around 100,000 Serbs remain in Kosovo, many in enclaves guarded by troops of the 16,000-strong NATO-led peace force.

The proposed constitution, the fruit of rare consensus between government and opposition in Serbia, is expected to pass the referendum, and trigger early elections in December.

The U.S. and EU have indicated that elections in December could delay a decision on Kosovo into 2007, for fear of driving voters into the arms of ultranationalists.

Kosovo’s status resolution timeline to be known after half of November

2006-10-24T20:18:00.000-04:00

Zëri reports on the front page that, as was expected, Ahtisaari’s meeting with Contact Group diplomats in Vienna discussed the inevitable topic of the timeline for UNOSEK to conclude its work on the issue of Kosovo. An opinion that reportedly prevailed in the discussions was that Ahtisaari should not change the pace of his work or his agenda. This implies, adds the paper, that Ahtisaari and his team will continue with the pace of completing their package by mid November, and then present it to Pristina and Belgrade.

Zëri notes that according to this plan, Ahtisaari would go to the United Nations Security Council in late November or early December to present his offer and to seek support for his proposal. If there is agreement on Ahtisaari’s proposal (at least 9 out of 15 members of the Security Council must be in support, and none of the member should be against or use the right of veto), then the issue of Kosovo would be concluded.

The paper cites Western diplomatic sources as saying that the crucial moment for the timeline for resolving the issue of Kosovo will happen along with Contact Group’s meeting with Ahtisaari at the level of political directors. In that meeting the decision will be made on Ahtisaari’s and the Contact Group’s final responsibility if in the meantime the Serbian leadership organises early parliamentary and presidential elections in December this year.

Germany on the eve of preparations for Kosovo’s status (Koha Ditore)

2006-10-24T20:16:00.000-04:00

Koha Ditore reports in the leading front-page story that Germany will continue to have the Balkans in the focus of its foreign policy and especially Kosovo now that the latter has entered the final phase of the future status. Unnamed diplomatic sources in Berlin have told the paper that Germany is deeply interested, along with other members of the Contact Group, the EU and the UN, to find the right and accepted solution for both parties in the case of Kosovo. The same sources said that difficult and decisive days await Kosovo in that phase of the status resolution.

The paper also notes that Kosovar and international politicians in Kosovo have been required to have clear management concepts. For Berlin, Kosovo will be an important point in the next chairmanship of the European Union, which Germany will take on from January 2007.

German diplomatic sources also told Koha Ditore that Berlin and other CG capitals with the exception of Moscow and Rome have no doubt that the result of Ahtisaari’s proposal will be the independence of Kosovo.

The paper notes that Germany will continue to play its mediating role especially at the UN Security Council. Visits by German diplomats have been planned for November to Moscow and Beijing to discuss the issue of possibly coordinating a new UN resolution that would remove Kosovo from Resolution 1244 and pave the way to Kosovo’s statehood and the clear EU engagement in a post-status mission in Kosovo.

The diplomatic sources added that it was extremely important for Kosovar politicians to be aware of the importance of the coming months. “In all levels we have tried and are trying to make it clear to Kosovo Albanian politicians that they must be ready to cooperate with UNMIK, but first of all by themselves, to manage the critical phase of moving from the administration of UNMIK to the independence of Kosovo,” added the sources. They also recalled that “in summer 1999 Kosovars lost sympathy towards the world public. Now, if any kind of violence or riots would happen after the status of Kosovo, the consequences for Kosovo would be so long-term that we won’t even know what to do anymore.”

EU/WESTERN BALKANS : KOSOVO MUST HAVE FULL INDEPENDENCE, SAYS TOP NEGOTIATOR

2006-10-23T19:06:00.001-04:00

Kosovo can never integrate into the EU and NATO unless it is a clearly defined sovereign state, leading Kosovar-Albanian negotiator Veton Surroi has said. Addressing a conference at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC on 20 October, Surroi said this stance would not change no matter who wins Serbia's parliamentary elections in December. "Even if Mother Teresa gets elected, we will still plump for independence," he said [the renowned Calcutta-based nun was ethnic Albanian]. His comments came as talks to decide the future status of the UN-administered province remain delicately poised, with mediators hoping to forge an agreement by the end of 2006.

EU'S ROLE

Veton Surroi, President of the opposition ORA party in Kosovo and former editor of the province's leading daily newspaper, told Europolitics that the EU should be the key international player in bolstering the rule of law in Kosovo. He was referring to the civilian mission the EU is due to launch in early 2007 to replace the UN mission. It will carry out tasks like supporting the police, training judges and protecting trial witnesses. But he was also fearful of international forces having "too many powers of intervention" as he said this could weaken the state.

The ORA leader accused the Serbian government of showing "very little engagement" in the ongoing Kosovo status talks, saying Serbia was relying on Russia to veto any future independence deal at the UN Security Council. He admitted the Serbian minority in Kosovo should be more involved in the process. But he said the Kosovo Serbs had not helped their cause by choosing to be represented by the Serbian government as Belgrade had not kept them briefed on the negotiations. He opposed any move to alter Kosovo's borders to make it more ethnically homogenous, although he said the ultimate goal should be "to make borders obsolete".

US VIEW

From the US State Department, Christopher Hoh was concerned that with all eyes on the status talks, "people are not focussing on the big picture, which is the future of Kosovo self-government". He urged the sides to think more about "the day after" issues such as how to decentralise the police and health sectors in Kosovo. He said the US was more into nation-building now than before, because the real threat to global security today came from failed states. Steven Meyer, who worked for many years as a CIA analyst in the Balkans, said the US was keen to "get out of the region," and predicted that Kosovo was likely to "follow the money into the EU and follow security into NATO". He said the Albanians had played their hand much better in the negotiations than the Serbs who had gotten distracted by so-called technical issues.

Serbia adopted a new constitution on 30 September, granting Kosovo autonomy but denying it full independence. The text will be put to a popular referendum on 28-29 October.

US voices "strong support" for Macedonia's Euro-Atlantic integration

2006-10-23T19:06:00.000-04:00

Text of report in English by Macedonian news agency Makfax

Skopje: The United States strongly supports Macedonia in its Euro-Atlantic aspirations, but urge for speeding up of reforms and dialogue between the ruling power and the opposition.

This was stated after today's meeting of the Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki and US Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau for European and Eurasian Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo.

"We will back Macedonia in implementation of the necessary reforms and on its road to Euro-Atlantic integrations," DiCarlo said.

She added the highlights of discussions included also "the need of the rule of law, as well as the need of government's cooperation with all political parties, aimed at enhancing the efforts in the fields spanning battle against corruption, full implementation of the Ohrid Agreement, and backing of the process for determining the future status of Kosovo."

DiCarlo underscored the importance of "the judicial reforms, combating corruption, human trafficking, and respect of religious freedom and rights of all citizens."

Macedonian Minister Milososki confirmed this. "We will put a special focus on the fight against trafficking with human beings and organized crime in the region. We will also work with all religious communities in the country to improve the legislation referring to religious freedom," Milososki said after his meeting with DiCarlo.

As regards the Kosovo issue, Milososki said he and DiCarlo shared the stance that resolving of the Kosovo status should be carried out in the manner that will provide for strengthening of the region's stability.

"The process of reaching a solution on the Kosovo status is also a good opportunity for closing the technical issue of the border demarcation. We express our gratitude to the international community for its support regarding this, but also to Pristina's authorities, who acknowledge the fact that this issue poses as a challenge that requires a positive response," Milososki said.

Source: Makfax news agency, Skopje, in English 1325 gmt 23 Oct 06

Kosovo Islamic leaders join call for independence

2006-10-23T19:00:00.000-04:00

PRISTINA, Serbia, Oct 23 (Reuters) - In a rare foray into politics, Islamic leaders in Kosovo on Monday added their voice to the Albanian majority's call for independence from Serbia.

Most of Kosovo's two million ethnic Albanians are nominally Muslim, but they are proud of the territory's secular tradition. This year's Ramadan passed with little trace of piety.

Marking the Eid al-Fitr feast in the capital, Pristina, the head of the Kosovo Islamic community, Mufti Naim Ternava, said independence for the breakaway Serbian province was the only acceptable outcome to talks expected to end within months.

"We are waiting for the U.N. Security Council to make its decision," he told worshippers at the 15th century Sultan Mehmet Fatih mosque. "The will and desire of the people should be respected. Independence is the only option."

Islamic leaders have little influence in Kosovo and rarely venture into politics, contrary to Serbia's warnings that an independent Kosovo would become a hotbed of extremism in Europe.

Ismail Hasani, professor of religion at Pristina University, said just 8-10 percent of people regularly attend prayers, "and the majority of these people are 50 and older."

"Albanians are too busy dealing with their economic, political and social status," he told Reuters. "The Islamic religion is accepted as a vehicle of culture and tradition."

Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombs drove out Serb forces accused of ethnic cleansing and atrocities against Albanians in a two-year war with guerrillas.

Talks on its "final status" began in February, with Western diplomats predicting some form of independence within months.

The Kosovo Albanians' secularism contrasts with the increasingly vocal role played by the Orthodox Church in Serbia's politics and society since the country emerged from 50 years of Socialist rule in the 1990s.

Many Serbs see Kosovo as the birthplace of their Orthodox faith, a land dotted with centuries-old monasteries.

Nationalists in the Church and political elite in Belgrade have tried to play up the Islamic angle to block Kosovo's bid for independence, warning of al Qaeda infiltration and Muslim radicalisation in Europe.

Serbian PM not surprised UN envoy Ahtisaari failed to get Nobel Peace Prize

2006-10-22T18:43:00.000-04:00

Text of report by Serbian TV on 21 October

[Presenter] Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has said that by placing Kosovo-Metohija into the preamble of the [new Serbian] Constitution, one in the best manner makes it known - from the point of view of historical and legal facts, primarily from that of the international law - that this province is an integral part of Serbia.

The constitutional preamble is merely copied from the United Nations Charter according to which there can be no alterations of internationally recognized borders, Kostunica said in an interview for tomorrow's edition of Vecernje novosti [daily].

The prime minister emphasized that the issue of the Constitution was an issue of the country's future, adding that one should not doubt that the citizens followed the events surrounding the drafting thereof with a great deal of care. The constitution is directly linked to the protection of our essential state and national interests, and here I primarily mean those concerning Kosovo-Metohija, Kostunica said.

Asked if the constitutional preamble would have an obliging character in the first place, Kostunica replied that it would stop having an obliging character the moment the UN Charter stop having it.

The prime minister said that he was not surprised with the fact that [UN special Kosovo envoy] Martti Ahtisaari had not received a Nobel Peace Prize, because his moves during the [Kosovo] negotiations were contrary to the spirit of this award.

Source: RTS 1 TV, Belgrade, in Serbian 1730 gmt 21 Oct 06

UN and NATO consider setting up Kosovo army -report

2006-10-21T19:04:00.000-04:00

PRISTINA, Serbia, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The United Nations and NATO are considering creating a 2,500-strong army in Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo, according to a report on Saturday.

U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari discussed the possibility during meetings at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, the Kosovo daily Koha Ditore quoted diplomatic sources as saying.

"Diplomatic sources told Koha that much of the discussion with Ahtisaari was about how to create a Kosovo army or as they call it, a Kosovo security force," it reported. "It would have 2,500 lightly armed soldiers, and would be trained by NATO."

Western diplomats in Kosovo say the majority-Albanian territory will likely have its own army after a decision on its future, but the idea remains highly sensitive due to the fears of the minority 100,000 remaining Serbs.

Kosovo has its own multi-ethnic police force and a civil emergency force made up mainly of former guerrillas.

Ahtisaari's spokeswoman, Hua Jaing, told Reuters the Brussels meeting was "closed" and she could not discuss the details.

Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombs drove out Serb forces accused of ethnic cleansing.

Ahtisaari opened direct talks in February and is pressing ahead with plans to submit a proposal on Kosovo's "final status" within the year, despite signs a U.N. Security Council vote could be delayed into 2007 by Serbian elections.

In Vienna on Saturday, the former Finnish president briefed representatives of the major powers on his "initial ideas", which diplomats say will likely lead to a form of independence supervised by the European Union and NATO.

No statements were made after the meeting with the Contact Group guiding Balkan diplomacy -- the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia.

The 90-percent ethnic Albanian majority is impatient for independence after years of economic and political limbo. U.N. officials in Kosovo fear a postponment of several months could invite fresh ethnic violence.

U.N. envoy presents ideas on Kosovo's future to group overseeing status talks

2006-10-21T19:03:00.000-04:00

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - The chief United Nations envoy for Kosovo presented his preliminary ideas for the future of the province Saturday to members of a six-nation group overseeing ongoing negotiations, his spokeswoman said.

The meeting between Maartti Ahtisaari and representatives of the so-called Contact Group -- which includes the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Italy -- was short, informal and one of a series of regular meetings, spokeswoman Hua Jiang told The Associated Press. She declined to provide details about what was said during the closed-door gathering.

Kosovo is formally a part of Serbia, but has been under U.N. and NATO control since 1999, when a NATO-led aerial bombardment forced Serbia to halt a government crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanian rebels who had been fighting for independence since 1998.

Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians want the province to become an independent state, while the minority Serbs want it to remain part of Serbia.

Talks to resolve Kosovo's future began earlier this year, but Belgrade's offer of broad autonomy has been rejected by the ethnic Albanians, who demand a complete secession and full sovereignty.

The Contact Group has set the end of the year as the provisional deadline for conclusion of the talks. Ahtisaari is expected to present his proposal to the U.N. Security Council in the coming months.

Serbian leaders suffer two heavy blows on Kosovo in one day - commentary

2006-10-21T18:59:00.000-04:00

Text of unattributed commentary: "Key to Europe"; published by Serbian newspaper Danas on 18 October

Serbia's two major branches of executive power suffered two new heavy blows in one day. First Albanian President Alfred Moisiu threw diplomacy and good manners to the wind when he told his host Boris Tadic that Kosovo should be independent. Moisiu was speaking at a regional summit on the fight against organized crime, held in Karadjordjevo. Later on Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica returned from Luxembourg, his job undone. Kostunica was told, as Tadic before him in Helsinki on 13 October, that the EU would not unfreeze talks with Serbia as long as Ratko Mladic was at large. Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte explained to the EU troika why the most wanted Hague fugitive was evading justice. She claims Belgrade lacks the political will to arrest Mladic, that the authorities are persuading him to surrender. Obviously Solana, Rhen, and Tuomioja accurately passed this on to the EU leaders.

The EU ministers also postponed talks on visa facilities for certain categories of the population and UN Kosovo envoy Maarti Ahtisaari confirmed that he would propose a final solution for Kosovo to the UN Security Council before the year is out. In all likelihood, the Finnish diplomat will consider neither Serbia's old nor new constitution. His vision of the future Kosovo is closer to the one Moisiu calls for rather than Tadic and Kostunica.

Careful political observers will say that nothing new happened two days ago in Luxembourg and Karadjordjevo. Europe has been explicit since last May: Mladic is the only key that will unlock Europe's doors. The stance of the Albanian president is nothing new, they say, the international community has been saying the same thing all over the world, with the exception partly of Russia and part of the region. This simplified view makes the conclusion from Luxembourg and the lesson from Karadjordjevo appear indeed quite benign. Actually, Europe's refusing a proposal put forward by Tadic and Kostunica shows that Europe does not trust Serbia, to put it in the simplest of terms. Moisiu's public statement about redrawing a sovereign state carries the same tone: Committing international and legal heresy in a state the borders of which he would redraw is telling what he thinks of his hosts and neighbours. The humiliation is deja and it inescapably evokes the contempt to which Milosevic's Serbia was exposed. Everything else is too much a serious warning, even a threat. Europe will not open its doors to help the current or future government, president, or prime minister. It will open them when Belgrade does what it has deferred all along, justifying the delay with reasons that Brussels will not accept.

Source: Danas, Belgrade, in Serbian 18 Oct 06 p9

Delay to UN's Kosovo decision risks new tensions FT INTERVIEW AGIM CEKU.

2006-10-16T20:36:00.000-04:00

The Kosovo government is being undermined by the prospect of a delayed United Nations decision on the future of the province, according to Agim Ceku, prime minister.

He says the delay could spark renewed conflict in the Balkans.

Mr Ceku told the Financial Times that Russia's stance on granting Kosovo independence was hardening and that he had received no guarantees on a recent visit to Washington.

But he believed there remained full international support for independence and hoped that the Contact Group of nations, which oversees negotiations on Kosovo's future, would fulfil its September pledge to resolve by the end of the year the last question remaining from the disintegration of Yugoslavia.

Efforts to "make things easier" for Serbia were creating pressures for a delay, he said, and should be overcome by imposing a solution on Belgrade.

"The people of Kosovo have heard the Contact Group's statement that the process will be finished by the end of the year," Mr Ceku said.

Any delay would cause "great disappointment, loss of credibility in the -process . . . loss of credibility of our government. There would be political in-stability."

Since Slobodan Milosevic's Serb forces were driven from Kosovo by a Nato bombing campaign in 1999, the province has been a ward of the UN. In a referendum at the end of the month, Serbs will vote on a draft constitution proclaiming Kosovo an "integral part" of Serbia.

Martti Ahtisaari, the UN envoy responsible for the Kosovo talks, has hinted that snap Serbian elections could push a final-status decision back into the new year. Kosovo fears there will be a compromise granting it almost total autonomy but stopping short of full -independence.

Mr Ceku's meetings with British ministers in London this week produced fresh declarations of support. But diplomatic sources said the US, France and Britain would have to work hard to assuage Russian and -Chinese sensitivities over setting a precedent for -secession before the Kosovo decision came before the UN Security Council.

Mr Ceku, who travels to Paris next week, has had no reply to his request to visit Moscow. Western diplomats believe the Kremlin may be keeping its intentions unclear in order to exploit the secessionist ambitions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia without alienating traditional Serb allies.

But Mr Ceku wants to convince Russia that Kosovo is a unique case. About 10,000 ethnic Albanians died in "ethnic cleansing" during the 1998-99 war.

Serbia Accused of Ignoring Key Fugitive

2006-10-16T20:35:00.000-04:00

LUXEMBOURG (AP) - The chief prosecutor of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal Monday accused Serbia of making no effort to catch top suspect Radko Mladic, despite the European Union's insistence that the fugitive general's capture is vital to that nation's membership ambitions.

Mladic has been at large since his 1995 indictment in connection with the massacre of about 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica during the war in Serbia's neighbor, Bosnia. Carla Del Ponte, the prosecutor, said Serbia's search efforts are lacking.

"There is no real political will and investigative will to find Mladic," Del Ponte told reporters, after briefing EU foreign ministers. "It's almost a smoke screen."

The EU has suspended negotiations with Serbia on a trade-and-aid agreement designed to pave the way for EU membership, saying Belgrade must prove it is fully cooperating with the U.N. war crimes tribunal.

Del Ponte said the EU should keep up the pressure to persuade the Serbs to move against Mladic, who prosecutors believe to be hiding in Serbia with the help of hard-liners in the police and military.

"They will never act to find and arrest Mladic," Del Ponte complained. "Probably, they want him to voluntarily surrender."

Also Monday, the EU ministers met Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica to press him to cooperate with the tribunal, saying Serbia's cooperation could open the way to speedy conclusion of the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU.

"We are ready to resume the negotiations on the very day that Serbia resumes cooperation," said Olli Rehn, the EU commissioner in charge of membership talks. "The lack of progress is a source of frustration for us."

Kostunica was also grilled over his nation's new draft constitution, which has raised concerns within the EU because it declares independence-seeking Kosovo an integral part of Serb territory.

European officials have said Belgrade's position on Kosovo is provocative and, if passed in an Oct. 28-29 referendum, could scuttle U.N.-led talks on the future status of the Serb province.

In a news conference, Kostunica insisted Serb authorities were committed to cooperation with the tribunal, and said the new constitution would open the way to a new democratic era in Serbia.

He stressed that Serbia would not accept an independent Kosovo, but said his government would consider "the highest possible substantial autonomy" for the province.

Status talks, led by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, started early this year but have yet to produce results, with the Serbs rejecting calls by the ethnic Albanian majority for full independence. Kosovo has been run by the United Nations and NATO since a 1999 war.

Ahtisaari was expected to report to the U.N. Security Council by the end of the year on a possible solution to Kosovo's future. However, he warned last week that there was no negotiated deal in sight.

Chief U.N. prosecutor accuses Serbia of making no effort to catch top fugitive Mladic

2006-10-16T20:34:00.001-04:00

LUXEMBOURG (AP) - The chief prosecutor of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal on Monday accused Serbia of making no effort to catch top suspect Radko Mladic, despite the European Union's insistence that the fugitive general's capture was vital for the Balkan nation's membership ambitions.

"It's almost a smoke screen," Carla Del Ponte told reporters, after briefing EU foreign ministers. "There is no real political will and investigative will to find Mladic."

The EU has suspended negotiations with Serbia on a trade-and-aid agreement designed to pave the way for EU membership, saying Belgrade must prove it is fully cooperating with the U.N. war crimes tribunal.

Mladic has evaded justice since his 1995 indictment for the massacre of about 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica during the war in neighboring Bosnia.

Del Ponte said the EU should keep up the pressure to persuade the Serbs to move against Mladic, who prosecutors believe to be hiding in Serbia with the help of hard-liners in the police and military.

"They will never act to find and arrest Mladic," Del Ponte complained. "Probably, they want him to voluntarily surrender."

Following the meeting with Del Ponte, the EU ministers met Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica to press him to cooperate with the tribunal, saying Serbia's cooperation could open the way to speedy conclusion of the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU.

"We are ready to resume the negotiations on the very day that Serbia resumes cooperation," said Olli Rehn, the EU commissioner in charge of membership talks. "The lack of progress is a source of frustration for us."

Kostunica was also grilled over his nation's new draft constitution, which has raised concerns within the EU because it declares independence-seeking Kosovo an integral part of Serb territory.

European officials have said Belgrade's position on Kosovo was as provocative and, if passed in an Oct. 28-29 referendum, it could scuttle U.N.-led talks on the future status of the Serb province.

In a news conference, Kostunica insisted Serb authorities were committed to cooperation with the tribunal, and said the new constitution would open the way to a new democratic era in Serbia. He stressed that Serbia would not accept an independent Kosovo, but said his government would consider "the highest possible substantial autonomy" for the province.

Status talks, led by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, started early this year but have yet to produce results, with the Serb's rejecting calls by the ethnic Albanian majority for full independence. Kosovo has been run by the United Nations and NATO since a 1999 war.

Ahtisaari was expected to report to the U.N. Security Council by the end of the year on a possible solution to Kosovo's future; however, he warned last week that there was no negotiated deal in sight.

Serbia Still Not Cooperating On Mladic - UN Prosecutor

2006-10-16T20:34:00.000-04:00

LUXEMBOURG (AP)--The chief prosecutor of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal said Monday she would tell European Union foreign ministers that Serbia is still not cooperating with her efforts to bring fugitives to justice - a key condition for the resumption of talks to prepare the Balkan nation for E.U. membership.

Asked if her report to the E.U. ministers would be negative, Carla Del Ponte said, "yes, of course, because Mladic is not in The Hague."

The Bosnian Serb's fugitive war leader Gen. Ratko Mladic is a leading target for the international court based in the Dutch city.

Del Ponte spoke briefly to reporters on her way to her talks with the E.U. ministers. They, in turn, would meet with Serbia's prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica.

The 25-nation bloc has suspended negotiations with Serbia on a trade-and-aid agreement designed to pave the way for E.U. membership, saying Belgrade must prove it is fully cooperating with the war crimes tribunal. Asked if she saw any encouraging signs, Del Ponte said, "absolutely not."

Kostunica was also likely to be grilled over his nation's draft constitution, which has raised concerns within the E.U. because it declares independence-seeking Kosovo an integral part of Serb territory.

European officials said Belgrade's position on Kosovo was seen as provocative and if passed in an Oct. 28-29 referendum, it could scuttle U.N.-led talks on the future status of the Serb province.

Status talks, led by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, started early this year but have yet to produce results, with the ethnic Albanians demanding independence from Serbia and Belgrade offering broad autonomy but no independence. Kosovo has been run by the U.N. since a 1999 war.

Despite the lack of progress in the talks, E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana was confident Kosovo would not slide back into violence.

"I have no doubt it will be resolved in a peaceful manner," he told reporters as he arrived for the meeting.

Ahtisaari is expected to report to the U.N. Security Council by the end of the year on a possible solution to Kosovo's future; however he warned last week there was no negotiated deal in sight because of the deep divisions between both sides.

Mladic has evaded justice since his 1995 indictment for the massacre of about 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica during the war in neighboring Bosnia. He is believed by U.N. prosecutors to be hiding in Serbia with the help of hard-liners in the police and military, but also a litter of Serb loyalists. [ 16-10-06 1520GMT ]

Year-end elections good timetable for Serbia-Solana

2006-10-16T20:31:00.000-04:00

LUXEMBOURG, Oct 16 (Reuters) - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Monday he hoped Serbia would hold early elections by the end of the year but the United Nations said it was committed to a decision on Kosovo's final status by then.

Serbian President Boris Tadic pleaded last week for a postponement of the U.N. final status proposal for the breakaway province, which is likely to lead to its independence from Belgrade, saying it was better to have elections first.

But U.N. mediator Martti Ahtisaari, who must present a proposal on Kosovo's final status to the United Nations, said he remained committed to the year-end timeframe set by the Contact Group of big powers overseeing the diplomacy. "They haven't changed their line," he said ahead of talks with EU officials in Luxembourg. "It means I will have to be in the Security Council well before the end of the year.

"As long as I don't hear otherwise, this is the timetable I am going to stick to."

Speaking ahead of talks in Luxembourg with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, Solana said he hoped for confirmation of the timetable for Serbian elections, widely expected in December.

"I hope the election may take place before the end of the year," he told reporters.

Solana declined to comment on Kosovo, saying that was being handled by Ahtisaari. But asked if he feared violence, he said: "I have no doubt it will be resolved in a peaceful manner."

IMPOSED SOLUTION

Ahtisaari was asked if the United Nations would impose a solution for Kosovo if the Serbs and Kosovo Albanians were unable to reach an agreement.

"Anyone in their right mind would always prefer a negotiated settlement," he said, "but if that is not possible then some proposals have to be put to the parties and the Security Council."

EU foreign ministers were expected to support Ahtisaari when they meet on Monday and Tuesday in Luxembourg and are set to warn parties against any attempt to delay the process.

Some EU diplomats have said it would make sense to allow a few weeks' slippage for the conclusion of the final status process to accommodate the Serbian election.

But since all Serbian parties are equally opposed to relinquishing sovereignty over the province, British and U.S. officials argue there is no point in dragging out the process.

Solana highlighted economic progress in Serbia but said reopening of suspended talks on closer ties with the European Union remained dependent on Belgrade's cooperation with the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

But chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said on Monday she had seen no progress in Serbia towards catching major war crime suspects, such as Ratko Mladic.

Asked as she arrived for talks with EU ministers if she had seen any reason for encouragement, Del Ponte said: "No, absolutely not, nothing." (Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander and Paul Taylor)

Çeku asks Great Britain support for creation of a Kosovo Defence Force (Dailies)

2006-10-12T20:14:00.000-04:00

Daily newspapers and TV broadcast report that in his meetings with British officials in London, the Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Çeku has called for Great Britain’s support for the creation of the Kosovo Defence Force. In the same meeting, the Kosovo PM also emphasised the importance of having a decision on Kosovo’s final status in 2006.

Koha Ditore notes that a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said that the British Defence Minister Adam Ingram has agreed that delays in the resolution of status are in no one’s interest. Ingram has confirmed that Great Britain will not leave Kosovo and added that the British Army will help in the creation of the Kosovo Defence Force.

The paper also notes that Çeku and Ingram agreed that the situation in Kosovo was on the positive path of creating a climate of trust between the communities and that the security situation is at a satisfactory level.

Epoka e Re quotes Çeku on the front page as saying that independence is the only solution that would stabilise Kosovo and the region. “The commitment of Great Britain is a precious contribution to peace and security in Kosovo and the region, and we welcome the engagement and the commitment of the British Government for a continuous presence in Kosovo, with special emphasis in building the defence force of Kosovo,” Çeku added.

Contact Group awaiting Ahtisaari’s proposals (Koha Ditore)

2006-10-12T20:12:00.000-04:00

Member states of the Contact Group say they continue to support the work of the UN Status Envoy Martti Ahtisaari and the views that he may present during his work. Representatives of the CG also remind the negotiations sides the call done through the ministerial statement of the Contact Group countries.

“Ministerial statement of Contact Group of 20 September reiterates the need for both sides to be as serious and as flexible as possible to find a suitable solution,” the paper quotes head of US Office in Pristina Tina Kaidanow.

The paper recalls the statement of President Ahtisaari who said that no one in the horizon can see a sign that Pristina and Belgrade could come to a negotiated agreement for the Kosovo status.

Head of Russian Liaison Office in Pristina Andrej Dronov said, however, that his country wants the status process to end in an agreed settlement. “It is clear that Russian Federation wants a status reached through a negotiated agreement between sides in talks. It is therefore also clear that the Contact Group eagerly waits for a greater inclusion of Pristina and Belgrade in status process,” Dronov told Koha Ditore. Dronov explained that the officials in Moscow continues to support President Ahtisaari and expects him to use all possible resources before getting out with recommendations on status solution.

Patrick Mura, head of Italian office in Pristina, said that the work of UN Status Envoy is very difficult and that there has been very little movement in bridging the differences between the Pristina and Belgrade delegations. He said Ahtisaari enjoys full support from the Italian Government to come to the best recommendations under the given circumstances. “Then and only then we can be able to decide about future steps,” Mura pointed out.

Full support to Ahtisaari is also voiced by the German Government through its representative in Pristina Eugen Wollfarth who said that rigidity has been evident in the both delegations but stressed that official Pristina has made some movements in the technical issues but also in its interior politics. “Team of Unity, Government and Assembly are vigorously working on achievement of the process and deserve the full support of Kosovo citizens in building a free, democratic and modern society,” Wollfarth is quoted.

Ruairi O’Connell from the British Office in Pristina said that President Ahtisaari enjoys unreserved support from his government and that the process of Kosovo status resolution aims at creating structures that would give equal voice to all ethnic communities.

Representative of the French Government in Pristina Thierry Reynard said officials in Paris stand behind the September CG ministerial statement. “Contact Group continues to closely monitor the level of constructive engagement of both sides and will draw conclusions based on this. Efforts for a negotiated solution should not hide the fact that none of the parties can unilaterally block the course of status process,” Reynard said for the paper.

Kosovo PM trusts big powers to grant independence

2006-10-12T20:10:00.000-04:00

LONDON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim Ceku said on Thursday he trusted the international community would grant the province independence by the end of the year.

"We trust the international community to drive this process through to the correct conclusion," Ceku said in a speech at Chatham House, the foreign policy think-tank, after meeting the British government on final status talks.

Ceku, a former guerrilla commander who fought Serb forces in 1999, reiterated there was only one outcome to international talks on the status of the province that would be acceptable to its 90 percent Albanian majority.

"We need independence now because we are convinced that there is no other workable solution," he said.

Kosovo has been under U.N. protection since 1999 when NATO troops took control following a bombing campaign to expel Serb forces.

The Contact Group of six countries -- the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia -- have led eight months of talks on Kosovo's future but have run into resolute opposition to independence from Belgrade.

Western powers fear delaying a decision could fuel Albanian suspicions and might provoke violent unrest and may have no alternative but to impose a solution.

Ceku said Serbia was alone in objecting to independence for Kosovo and that Contact Group efforts were focussed on trying to overcome its objections.

"We are all working on that and I hope we will get there soon," he said.

Kosovo president defends plan for setting up ethnic Serb municipality

2006-10-12T20:06:00.000-04:00

Text of report in English by independent internet news agency KosovaLive

Gjilan [Gnjilane], 12 October: Kosova [Kosovo] President Fatmir Sejdiu during his visit to Viti [Vitina] received many critiques from citizens and municipal councillors, and he was warned that citizens of Viti are strongly against the establishment of the municipality of Kllokot [Klokot].

Citizens and municipal councillors openly expressed their dissatisfaction towards the ethnically-based decentralization, handing over to President Sejdiu 11,000 signatures of Viti residents against the establishment of the Serb municipality of Kllokot.

President Sejdiu said that decentralization is related to the structure of the future local self-administration, where the counsellors of local level will have the opportunity to take decisions on issues that were usually decided by the central level.

"The establishment of new municipalities is an aspect of Kosova's territorial reorganization, but which does not harm its integration," said President Sejdiu, adding that decisions of the Kosova delegation have been reached by consensus.

The head of the PDK [Democratic Party of Kosovo] Group of Councillors in the Viti Municipal Assembly, Daut Xhemajli, said that Viti has been punished with separation on ethnic bases without any previous consultation. "If the Negotiating Team does not withdraw the proposal for municipality of Kllokot, we have no reasons to stay in this hall," said Xhemajli.

Responding to these statements, President Sejdiu said that there is a unique stance within the Unity Team on this issue.

"It is important to move together and to maintain the unity inside the negotiating group," said President Sejdiu.

Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 12 Oct 06

Unity of the Contact Group at risk (Koha Ditore)

2006-10-11T21:21:00.000-04:00

Two months and a half before the ‘preferred’ deadline for the solution of Kosovo’s status, Koha Ditore reports in its lead story that according to some European officials there are huge differences within the Contact Group, between the US and the Great Britain on the one side, and Russia on the other.

According to these unnamed western diplomats, with the escalation in the relations between Russia and Georgia and with the anticipation of elections in Serbia, the status process in Kosovo can become a ‘collateral victim’.

Russia has some leverage in the Contact Group and so far it has not spoiled the plans of the Western countries in this group. However, it is now clearly showing that it does not agree with what they call ‘imposed solution’ and with ‘artificial deadlines’ for the solution of Kosovo’s status.

According to Koha Ditore Brussels’ diplomats will say that another meeting between Ahtisaari and the Contact group could take place by the end of the month, to retest the unit of the Contact Group.

Ahtisaari said in a conference in Helsinki that Russia is not interested in solving the status while Finland is chairing the EU, not even during Germany’s turn. “Perhaps Russia thinks that Kosovo status should be solved when Croatia chairs the EU, which is not yet a member,” he said according to some participants in the conference, writes Koha Ditore.

What seems enigmatic in this environment, says Koha Ditore, is the tentative of Germany to position itself somewhere ‘in the middle’. “Germany is trying to create possibilities for an interim solution for Kosovo which would be some sort of independence without sovereignty. Germanys also like the idea that Kosovo should not become a UN member and that it should not have an army. They think that full independence of Kosovo should only be reached when Kosovo is mature enough to integrate in the EU, so for an indefinite period of time,” Koha Ditore quotes an unnamed EU official involved in the Contact Group processes.

Koha Ditore writes that according to the assessment of some diplomats, for Germany, good relations with Russia have always been a priority, sometimes more important than relations with the US.

EU sources say that all the efforts are being made to maintain the unity of the Contact Group because the differences between Russia and the Western states within the CG are coming more and more to the surface, says the paper.

UCK war associations say "sovereign" Kosovo is only acceptable solution

2006-10-11T21:16:00.000-04:00

Excerpt from report by Kosovo Albanian Kosovapress news agency website

Prishtina [Pristina], 6 October: "We will never accept from anyone any solution but Kosova [Kosovo] as a sovereign and integral state. This is our debt to the nation. It is our obligation and duty to all those who gave their lives for the fatherland," Faik Fazliu, chairman of the UCK [Kosovo Liberation Army] Organization of War Veterans [OVL], said today at a press conference.

He said that the war associations had released a statement addressed to the people of Kosova, the Assembly, the government, the Unity [negotiation] Team, the offices of the Quint [United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and France], UNMIK [UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo], and the UN secretary general, and their own members. He went on to say that the international community, as well as the Albanian factor, was playing games with our will and fate.

"A national tragedy is about to happen - this time with the blessing of our supposedly elected representatives. Therefore, it is our patriotic duty to inform you that we are against any actions that could lead to new bloodshed in Kosova. The games that are being played with the political status of Kosova at the expense of our people by our naive and corrupt Albanian politicians and certain quarters of the international community point to the fact that new bloodshed is being prepared. Our duty is to tell the people about this situation so that they are warned about it in time," he said.

Fazliu said that the biggest misfortune is that the Unity Team includes individuals who had always believed that they could convince Serbia to accept the independence of Kosova voluntarily in the spirit of the Helsinki Final Act.

"While these big mouths have been talking about dialogue on independence, Serbia has adopted the new constitution, defining Kosova as part of Serbia. That is how the United Nations and the UN Security Council see Kosova in Serbia's new application for its third UN membership. At this critical stage, many developments regarding the sovereignty and integrity of Albanian lands are taking place, supposedly under the supervision of the international factor. Furthermore, the Albanian factor is proud of its cooperativeness with this factor, even though, to this day, almost half of Kosova is administered by Serbia," Fazliu said.

Elsewhere, Xhavit Jashari, chairman of the UCK Martyrs' Families Association [ShFD], said that the servility of the Kosova Government was unprecedented, as it cared more about the interests of those who were trying to destroy Kosova than about the interests of the people.

"A government that is more concerned about party interests cannot be a national or people's government because it is not working for, or thinking about the future of Kosova or taking care of its interests. It is only looking after the interests of the parties that form it. No one throughout history has been able to play games with the Albanian people in the interests of the powerful. The history of the creation of nations and states to date has shown this," he said.

He said that UNMIK had taken advantage of the lack of respect for the liberation war and the Kosova Provisional Government and had overstepped its authority of international supervision for its own ends and that, with its games, it had been destroying Kosova's assets.

"The Albanian people see the UNMIK staff with suspicion and as an enemy, not as an instrument for establishing a democratic system. There are so many instances of abuse by this institution, in collusion with the servile Albanian factor - abuses that have been very detrimental to Kosova - that the people today see UNMIK as the most hated invader of Albanian lands," he said, accusing UNMIK of ignoring the values of the UCK war. [Passage omitted]

Source: Kosovapress news agency website, Pristina, in Albanian 6 Oct 06

Senior official in north Serbia urges boycott of constitutional referendum

2006-10-11T21:15:00.000-04:00

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - A senior official in northern Serbia on Wednesday called for a boycott of the upcoming referendum on a new constitution that declares independence-seeking Kosovo an integral part of Serb territory.

The draft constitution -- drawn up by Serbia's main political parties and approved this month by parliament -- also defines the country as independent for the first time since the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.

Bojan Kostres, the parliament speaker in the northern Vojvodina province, urged people to reject the draft constitution by boycotting the referendum -- adding to the mounting criticism against the document.

More than half of some 6 million Serbian voters must approve the draft constitution in the Oct. 28-29 referendum for it to take effect.

Critics say it was drawn up too hastily, with no public discussion beforehand, and does not define Serbia as a modern European state.

Kostres said it did not grant sufficient autonomy to Vojvodina, the richest province in Serbia, and that a referendum boycott was "the only way to defend the interest of Vojvodina."

Several other liberal parties have also announced plans to boycott the vote. Ethnic Albanians in southern Serbia said they would stay away, to protest the document's including Kosovo within the definition of Serbia's borders.

Kosovo, which is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, is seeking independence in U.N.-led talks on the province's future status. Serbia as well as the province's Serb minority wants it to have broad autonomy but remain within Serbian territory.

Serbian officials have said Kosovo's 2 million ethnic Albanians will not be invited to vote on the draft constitution.

Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's government launched a massive pro-referendum campaign, enlisting Serbia's soccer team and prominent individuals on its side.

Kostunica defended the draft text on Tuesday, saying it would "stabilize Serbia and prevent its disintegration."

An opinion poll published Wednesday by the Medium Gallup polling agency indicated turnout would be between 56 and 58 percent. No margin of error was given.

Kosovo premier visits UK, France to drum up support for independence

2006-10-11T21:14:00.000-04:00

Text of report by Radio-Television Kosovo TV website on 11 October

Prime Minister Agim Ceku is to pay a visit to London at the invitation of the British government. Today, he is scheduled to start meetings with government officials and influential British personalities. The most important meeting is with British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett.

Next week, the prime minister will also pay a visit to Paris.

He will be seeking Britain's and France's support for a resolution of [Kosovo's] status during this year and for the process to end with Kosovo's independence.

Source: RTK TV website, Pristina, in Albanian 11 Oct 06

Kosovo Assembly to set aside 20 seats for minority MPs

2006-10-11T21:11:00.000-04:00

Text of report by Radio-Television Kosovo TV website on 10 October

The Kosova [Kosovo] Assembly will reserve 20 seats for non-Albanian minority officials. Ten seats will be given to Serb officials and the other ten to officials of other minority communities in the region.

Kosova President Fatmir Sejdiu said ministerial posts will also be reserved for minority officials. President Sejdiu said that in this way Prishtina [Pristina] will be able to regulate guarantees for the minorities in Kosova. One of the guarantees for minorities will be that Serbs will be given a university in Serbian, the one in northern [Kosovska] Mitrovica, Kosova President Fatmir Sejdiu said.

Source: RTK TV website, Pristina, in Albanian 10 Oct 06

Kosovo rises on international agenda ; The UN is to decide soon on independence for the Serbian province - a move the US supports.

2006-10-10T19:18:00.000-04:00

With unsettling nuclear developments in North Korea, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and political upheaval in the Middle East, little attention is being paid to the Balkans, which might seem like a preoccupation of the post-cold-war 1990s.

But Kosovo - a Serbian province of 2 million people that spawned a NATO bombing campaign in 1999 - is on the brink of bursting onto the world stage once again. With the United States and the European Union pressing for resolution of Kosovo's final status this year, it once looked like independence was assured. But now Serbia is finagling to put that decision off - a move that could awaken Balkan unrest once again.

After seven years of United Nations control, the majority Albanian and Muslim population is clamoring for independence. But the Serbian (and largely Christian) minority is campaigning to remain attached to Serbia. The Serbian Kosovars claim that independence would mean creation of an Islamic fundamentalist state in Europe and expose them to ethnic violence.

Troops and economic investment as factors

Beyond those issues, other factors seem primed to raise Kosovo's status on the international agenda. The US would like to free up the 1,700 peacekeeping troops it still has in the province. Economic investment in a region that is an important trade and energy route is being held up by uncertainty over Kosovo's status.

And while some experts warn that failure to resolve Kosovo's status could turn it into a powder keg once again, still others caution against hasty action: They say Kosovo is being closely watched by other restless regions in eastern Europe and central Asia - including in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Moldova - and could be used to fire up breakaway movements.

"It may seem hard to imagine that there was a day not so long ago when the Balkans were the biggest foreign-policy issue on the US plate, but the simple issue is still there," says Daniel Serwer, a Balkans expert at the US Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington. "Part of the population wants to pull away and be independent, and another part wants things to stay the same. It's the repercussions that make things complex."

US officials have been saying since January that this would be the year of decision on Kosovo's final status. "The people of Kosovo deserve greater clarity, and as we approach the end of the year I suspect they will get greater clarity," said Daniel Fried, US assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs, on a stop last month in Pristina, Kosovo's capital.

The UN's special envoy to Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, is supposed to deliver a status-settlement recommendation next month. Anticipating the report will favor independence, Serbia is seeking to head it off by proposing a new constitution that specifies Kosovo as part of Serbia.

US and European Union officials say Serbia's actions are unlikely to derail the push to determine Kosovo's status - though they say the tactics (possibly including a referendum on the new constitution and elections) could delay a decision, which is ultimately to be made by the UN Security Council, until next year.

While those maneuverings are going on, in Washington supporters and opponents of Kosovo's independence are redoubling efforts to win adherents.

Warnings from anti-independence groups

Anti-independence groups backed by Serbia have been running newspaper ads and sponsoring seminars in Washington to warn of a radical Islamist state and renewed ethnic cleansing if Kosovo is allowed to break from Serbia.

"Granting independence to Kosovo would be a reward for the crimes the Albanians have committed, and would create a base for criminality and jihad in the very heart of Europe," says Artemije Radosavljevic, a Serbian Orthodox bishop in Kosovo.

Bishop Artemije, who has made several trips to Washington to plead the Serbian population's case, claims that more than 3,000 Serbs of Kosovo have been killed or kidnapped in the years of international administration. He also says that 150 churches and monasteries have been razed and thousands of Serbian houses destroyed. He says he has found sympathetic ears in the US Congress, but little movement from a pro-independence stance in the State Department.

Mr. Serwer, who is also vice president of USIP's Center for Post- Conflict Peace and Stability Operations, says that while there have been some cases of violence against Serbs, the numbers have been "grossly trumped up" by the anti-independence lobby to make for a more alarming picture.

But Serwer reserves his ire for the references these groups make to Islamic terrorism "in an attempt to tap into American fears," he says.

"These claims, that go so far as to equate an independent Kosovo to an Al Qaeda refuge, are so outrageous and blatantly anti-Muslim that they are despicable," Serwer says.

Pro-Western orientation

Holding a similar assessment is Janusz Bugajski, director of the New European Democracies Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, and an independence advocate. "The population of Kosovo is one of the more pro-Western and pro- American populations in the world, " he says. "They had volunteers to fight [with the US] in Afghanistan and Iraq, so to say they are [Islamic] fundamentalists is to spread disinformation."

Beyond that, Mr. Bugajski cites reasons to settle Kosovo's status now. He worries the population could start to see the peacekeepers as occupiers, and he says uncertainty over the province's status is discouraging foreign investment. "I also believe that Serbia doesn't need the distraction of Kosovo as it modernizes and moves towards membership in the European Union," he says.

Indeed, some European officials say the international community must be careful not to play the Kosovo issue in a way that reinforces reactionary forces in the anticipated elections.

Such potential political implications have other experts cautioning about Kosovo's influence. "This goes beyond Kosovo and affects a number of countries in the greater Black Sea area that are fractured," says Nikolas Gvosdev, editor of the National Interest political journal in Washington. "You have to at least ask the question if a too-hasty move to independence in Kosovo encourages the disintegration of other states."(c) Copyright 2006. The Christian Science Monitor

Deputy premier says Kosovo ready to become independent and govern itself

2006-10-10T19:17:00.000-04:00

TIRANA, Albania (AP) - Kosovo's Deputy Prime Minister Lutfi Haziri said Tuesday his province expects to become independent next year and govern itself with a small international mission to monitor it.

"I believe that within the next nine months Kosovo will have its status, Kosovo will pass a temporary constitution, Kosovo will hold democratic elections and implement their result," Haziri said, speaking on Albanian public television.

"We shall take the responsibility to manage public institutions, protect the rights of minorities and there will be a small international presence that will monitor -- not share -- Kosovo's sovereignty, security and judiciary," he said.

Kosovo, formally a Serbian province, has been run by the United Nations and NATO since a 1999 war. The United States and the Contact Group for Kosovo, which includes Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia, are seeking to wrap up talks on the province's future by the end of the year.

But the negotiations, which started early this year, have produced no result, with both sides entrenched in their positions -- the ethnic Albanians demanding independence from Serbia and Belgrade offering broad autonomy but no independence.

U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari, a former Finnish president who in 1999 negotiated with Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic to end the fighting in Kosovo, said Monday he sees no solution in the talks on the status of Kosovo because the two sides are too divided.

Ahtisaari is due to report to the United Nations within the next few months on the status of the Kosovo talks. He stressed that an agreement must be reached in Kosovo to bring calm to the troubled region.

Haziri said that Serbia's calling of a referendum on a constitution that sets out that Kosovo is part of its territory, followed by elections, were a pretext to postpone the final decision on the province's status, and an effort to "discredit" Ahtisaari's mission and cause division among Contact Group members.

The deputy premier, just back from Washington where he had met with State Department officials and U.S. envoy for the talks Frank Wisner, said he had received clear confirmation there would be no delay in talks.

Don't delay our destiny, says Kosovo premier

2006-10-10T19:14:00.000-04:00

PRISTINA, Serbia, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Independence by the end of this year is the only acceptable outcome for the people of Kosovo, Prime Minister Agim Ceku said on Tuesday.

Serbia must not be allowed to delay the process by creating doubt and division among major powers who drove its forces out of the province seven years ago, he told Reuters.

"Nothing less than independence will be acceptable," the 45-year-old former general said. "Independence is the only sustainable, long-lasting solution that will bring stability to the region."

Kosovo has been under United Nations protection, in a state of legal limbo, since 1999 when NATO troops took control.

Eight months of U.N.-mediated talks on its future have only exposed the irreconcilable positions of Serbia and Kosovo's 90 percent Albanian majority, and the U.N. is expected to impose a solution this year which could well be independence.

Ceku said Serbia's counter-strategy was to discredit U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari, delay a decision, divide the six-power Contact Group and thereby destabilise Kosovo in a bid to prove the Albanians were not ready for independence.

"The people of Kosovo will prove Kosovo is ready. Kosovo is ready now," the prime minister said. "We have proven that we are going to be a modern, democratic country, a secular country."

TO DELAY, OR NOT

Western powers leading a force of 16,000 peacekeepers in the province fear delaying a promised decision that is already overdue could fuel Albanian suspicions and might provoke violent unrest. And in any case, delay will not resolve the conflict.

But Ahtisaari and others have raised the possibility of a brief delay. Some Europeans fear amputating Kosovo now could hand victory to ultranationalists in an early Serbian general election expected in 10 weeks.

Britain and the United States, members of the Contact Group with France, Germany, Italy and Russia, insist the year-end deadline still holds. But talk of delay remains in the air.

Ceku was due to have talks in London on Thursday.

"I'm going to tell them that status has to be finished by the end of the year and it has to be independence," he said.

If Kosovo is confronted with a delay, Ceku said there were options under discussion. A referendum would underscore the unanimous Albanian demand for self-determination, and there could be political pressure for a declaration of independence.

"If we come to that stage when we have to declare, we will make sure no one will be surprised by this," he said, stressing that Kosovo's independence was a "joint project" with friendly powers, not a unilateral enterprise.

Ceku had no sympathy for Serbia's insistence that Kosovo, where Serb history goes back hundreds of years, must remain within its sovereignty, albeit with wide autonomy.

The late Serb strongman Slobodan Milosevic had cancelled Kosovo's autonomy in Yugoslavia in order to oppress the Albanians, said the former guerrilla commander who fought Serb forces as NATO bombed Yugoslavia to compel their withdrawal.

"Milosevic chose war. We fought together with NATO and we won. That's it, Kosovo is free now," Ceku said.

He dismissed warnings that independence for the territory of 2 million people would lead on to demands for union with neighbouring Albania and stir separatism among Albanians in Macedonia, southern Serbia and Montenegro.

"There is only one union we are looking for, and that is the European Union," he said.

(Additional reporting by Shaban Buza and Matt Robinson)

Premier Ceku urges Serbia to be "realistic", accept Kosovo independence

2006-10-09T13:55:00.000-04:00

Text of report in English by independent internet news agency KosovaLive

Prishtina [Pristina], 9 October: Kosova [Kosovo] Prime Minister Agim Ceku said that some forces in Belgrade are playing a game by using the parliamentary elections and the referendum on the constitution in order to discredit the mandate of President [UN envoy] Ahtisaari, catalyze the divergences within the international community, degrade the status talks, and finally destabilize Kosova.

During his weekly address to the citizens of Kosova, Prime Minister Ceku called on Serbia to be more realistic and to accept the current reality in Kosova.

"Serbia must be more realistic and accept the fact that only the independence can help Kosova's democratization," said Ceku, adding that Serbia must give up on Kosova and concentrate on the internal problems that concern citizens of this country, and this way help themselves on the integration towards Europe.

The head of the Kosovar government among other things said that no one must show signs of weakness during these important moments that Kosova is passing.

Prime Minister Ceku announced that, at the invitation of the British government, he will visit London during this week assuring the citizens of Kosova that he will make clear to British officials their will for the finalization of the independence of Kosova within this year.

Prime Minister Ceku also said that institutions of Kosova together with the international factor are working towards the building of multi-ethnic and democratic society in peace with itself and neighbours, and that offers equal possibilities for all those who are led by the rule of law.

According to Ceku, in this respect the government has the support of the whole civilized world. He called on the media to help in expanding the values that are being built in Kosova.

Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 9 Oct 06

Report: Serb negotiator says revision of Kosovo talks needed in order to reach compromise

2006-10-09T13:50:00.000-04:00

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - A chief Serb negotiator in the Kosovo talks called Monday for a "serious revision" of the U.N.-brokered process, including the replacement of U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari, according to a news report.

Slobodan Samardzic, an adviser to Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, said that a "new methodology" is needed in order to reach a compromise between Serbia and Kosovo Albanians on the future status of the contested province, according to the official Tanjug news agency. He did not elaborate.

The negotiations, which started early this year under U.N. auspices, so far have produced no result with both sides entrenched in their positions -- the ethnic Albanians demanding independence from Serbia and Belgrade offering broad autonomy for the breakaway region.

On Monday, the chief mediator, Ahtisaari acknowledged that compromise is nowhere in sight because he said both sides remain too far apart.

"The parties remain diametrically opposed," Ahtisaari said in the Finnish capital, Helsinki. "I can't see there will be a negotiated settlement."

But, he added his team "will continue to press forward until all potential areas for compromise have been explored."

Kosovo, formally a Serbian province, has been run by the United Nations and NATO since a 1999 war. The region remains a potential flash point in the Balkans.

The United States and its allies in the so-called Contact Group for Kosovo -- which also includes Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia -- have sought to wrap up the talks by year end.

Most analysts have predicted Kosovo would be granted some form of independence, despite Serbia's opposition to the secession.

The plans to find a solution for Kosovo this year have failed, Samardzic said, according to the Tanjug interview. He said a different approach and a new envoy are needed next year to push the process forward, the report said.

"The situation will take a new course from Jan. 1," Samardzic was quoted as saying. "I believe this course will entail a serious revision of the entire process by the United Nations and the Contact Group."

In Finland, Ahtisaari failed to specify what would be the next step in case no solution is found for Kosovo at the negotiating table.

But he warned that "Kosovo is the last piece of the Balkan puzzle. Without a lasting solution for Kosovo, there will be no lasting solution for the Balkans."

Ahtisaari says Kosovo plan still aimed at end-2006

2006-10-09T13:49:00.000-04:00

HELSINKI, Oct 9 (Reuters) - A proposal to settle the status of Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo is still expected to be submitted by next month, U.N.-appointed mediator Martti Ahtisaari said on Monday.

Ahtisaari said last week a plan on the future of the U.N.-administered province might have to wait until after elections in Serbia, which many in Belgrade expect to be held in December.

But asked whether a delay was still possible, Ahtisaari told Reuters on the sidelines of a seminar on the future of Kosovo: "No such directions have been given. Quite the contrary. The debate that has been going on internationally has not affected our schedule in any way."

"(The) starting point for the schedule we have with the Contact Group is that this issue will be solved by the end of the year," he added, referring to the group overseeing Balkan diplomacy comprising Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Italy and Russia.

Ahtisaari did not explain the apparent change in his position on the issue.

He told the seminar he would next meet the Contact Group later in October, and then again in early November.

Ahtisaari's comments last week were followed by British and U.S. officials stressing that the goal for the decision was still within 2006. Western officials are concerned that talk of a delay could spark violence by ethnic Albanian extremists.

Ahtisaari would not say what the implications of a delay could be. "We would have to consider it then. Hopefully, it would not be anything dramatic," he said.

He did not comment on the substance of his proposal for Kosovo, which the U.N. could then impose.

Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombs drove out Serb forces accused of civilian killings and ethnic cleansing in a two-year war with guerrillas. Ninety percent of its people are Albanians, who lost 10,000 to the war.

Ahtisaari opened direct talks in February in Vienna, focusing mostly on the rights and security of the province's remaining Serb minority.

Diplomats widely expect the former Finnish president to suggest a form of independence for the territory, which Serbia sees as the cradle of its nation and refuses to give up.

UN envoy sees no negotiated accord on Kosovo status

2006-10-09T13:46:00.000-04:00

HELSINKI, Oct 9, 2006 (AFP) -

UN special envoy on the status of Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, said Monday he did not think the Kosovo Albanians and the Serbs would be able to reach a negotiated settlement on the province.

"I can't see (that) there will be a negotiated settlement," Ahtisaari told a seminar on Kosovo held at the Finnish parliament.

"I don't see the parties moving on the status issue. The parties remain diametrically opposed," he said.

The negotiations on the future status of the southern Serbian province, administered by the UN since June 1999, began in February under United Nations auspices, but no concrete results have emerged so far.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority, which makes up 90 percent of the population, wants independence from Serbia.

But the government in Belgrade and the minority Serb community in Kosovo insist that the province -- considered to be the cradle of Serbian culture and history -- should be granted greater autonomy but not full independence.

Ahtisaari, who is to present a report on the negotiations by the end of the year, said talks have stumbled over issues such as decentralisation and minority rights.

"Pristina has been prepared to make clear concessions but Belgrade has been considerably less so," he said.

"My overall assessment of these technical talks is that the prospect for finding a common ground is very limited," he said, adding: "Without a lasting solution of the Kosovan questions, there is no lasting solution for the Balkan puzzle."

"Nevertheless I and my team will continue to press forward until all potential areas for compromise have been explored," he said.

Kosovo's prime minister, Agim Ceku, warned on Friday that any delay in reaching a long-term agreement on the province's future would damage the credibility of the international community in the eyes of the local population.

"That would damage credibility and (citizens') trust in the position of all the relevant international factors ... who have said many times that Kosovo's status would be resolved this year," Agim Ceku told reporters.

"No one would benefit from such a delay."

Foreign ministers from the so-called Contact Group -- Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States -- in September reaffirmed their goal of achieving a "status agreement" between Pristina and Belgrade by the end of the year.

Absurdity of an Aggressive Propaganda Policy

2006-10-08T11:01:00.000-04:00

Sunday, 08 October 2006

As the conclusion of the political process that will decide on the fate of Kosova is approaching, any average observer is able to notice that Belgrade official propaganda is becoming more and more arrogant, irrational and hysterical. This intensification of the restless aggressiveness, the rhetoric and its tone are not new to the ears of experts of relational interdependence of cause and effect of the tragic events of the last two decades that occurred in the areas of the former Yugoslav federation.

This rhetoric, a blind servant of the policy of the ruling Serb circles and their chauvinist and expansionist aspirations towards their neighbors, born and erected on foundations of anachronic premises of anticivilizing antihistoricism, unfortunately neglected by the international, mostly European diplomatic factors, created the catastrophic horror of rivers with the blood of hundreds and thousands of innocent victims and expelled millions from their homes. Ironically, the policy that inspired this process was initially promoted in Kosova, reached the peak of its lunacy in Kosova and finally got punished for it in Kosova.

In civilized societies with moral values, it would be logical and natural for leaders that promoted the policy that lead to all that happened, to stop, think and analyze the causes and circumstances that lead to it, critically analyze the events with a cool head, while looking at the consequences and liabilities. Well, Serbia would not be Serbia if it did that.

Crowds, tired and traumatized by a decade of wars finally rose in Belgrade in 2000. The opposition was at the right place at the right time and with a little trickery, their 'legendary vožd' [1] of the 90’s was overthrown. The irony continues… The defiant butcher of the Balkans was not overthrown for his direct fault and responsibility of turning Balkans into a slaughterhouse; he was overthrown because “he lost four wars” while leading Serbia. Unbelievable but true, this was the motive of the uprising. This is how far the hatred and xenophobia can go.

Sui generis, neuropsychiatry would describe this sociopsychological phenomenon as a collective amokery. An alarming sign indeed… Their problem! Or is it? Ask the neighboring nations that witnessed it first hand and paid for it in blood. This nation needs a national catharsis. Unfortunately, only some lonely voices within Serbia are asking for this to happen, mainly due to their guilty conscience.

Regardless of its motive, this dissatisfaction of the crowds was taken advantage of by the opposition leaders, who after coming to power pompously presented the event as a “democratic revolution”. Of course, this was applauded as a big step forward towards democracy by the world, and successfully capitalized in the diplomatic interrelationships by the new Serb government. The propaganda of the former regime was somewhat silenced, the tip of the pyramid was replaced, but the existing governing structures of the military, police and judicial branches were not touched. The political parties, responsible for the political course that led to the bloodshed of the 90’s were also allowed to continue their activities in the name of “freedom and democracy”.

During new political structures’ conquests for political power, the moderate groups suffered the hardest blows, mainly due to the fact that they were promoting radical changes from previous regime’s ways, and as a result, the winner was conservative wing, personified by the actual prime-minister. A proven nationalist, a consequent legalist, compatible with the former regime and sympathized by them, cherished by the church and conservatory sections of the community, calculating and cunning, well familiar with the Serb traditional spirit, abusive to the friendly World which sympathetically saw in him a symbol of new democracy, he manages in holding onto his post and powers.

In his policies towards Kosova, he is not only a persistent follower of the political course of Slobodan Milosevic, but a more dangerous one. The fact that unlike his communist predecessor, he is wrapped in a gown of a democrat will have more negative consequences for Kosova and its aspirations. Faced with the de jure loss of Kosova, he re-activates the giant propaganda machine that he inherited from his predecessor, and takes a spaghetti approach, firing from all the fronts and calibers. He whips without clemency towards not only towards the aspirations of Kosova for independence, towards the political subjects and its interim leading structures, but also towards UNMIK (the UN Mission in Kosova), it’s Special Representative and towards the international community that is allegedly siding with Kosova residents. With the motto of “the ends justify the means”, this propaganda overpasses even Niccolò Machiavelli, and aligns itself right next to Joseph Goebbels. For him, it is not important if you present facts; fabricate, make up, falsify, defamate, lie and maybe someone will believe you! A lie recycled and repeated many times may begin to sound like a fact. This appears to be the logic and the strategy behind this campaign.

This rampage peaked when it compared UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari to Adolph Hitler. What a repulsing absurdity! Another jewel! While the rest of the world is recognizing Ahtisaari’s virtues of an experienced and impartial diplomat by nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize, the Serb geniuses compare him to Hitler. But again, the Serb spite is big. It was Marti Ahtisaari together with Russia’s Viktor Černomirdin that convinced the Serbian “vožd” to sign his surrender after the NATO bombing campaign in June 1999.

“Medice, cura te ipsum!” – Physician, heal thyself! Fearing that they will lose the nationalist vote, the same Serbian leaders that are inciting this hysterical propaganda are also turning the blind eye to the skinhead neo-Nazi ultra-aggressive groups that tattooed with swastikas are circulating freely in Belgrade and the rest of Serbia and brutally quashing any attempts of the real pro-democratic forces in Serbia to denazificate the society.

On August 27, 2006, two Israeli citizens were severely beaten by a group of skinheads in a Belgrade park. Yariv Avram and Bojana Petkovic were attacked by men wearing Nazi symbols who were yelling “Auschwitz, Auschwitz” and “Go to Germany”. Mr. Kostunica, In Ahtisaari’s country, this would be considered a political scandal; it would disturb the people and would be punished harshly. Nazism is present in your country, and it is plaguing your nation. Seven years ago, your nation’s forces used the Nazi methods in your Mathausens in the industrial plants in Mackatica and other Mathausens that are surfacing across Serbia. The foundries in your plants were turned into crematoriums for innocent Albanian civilians. It is obvious who needs denazification. Obviously, Finland and Ahtisaari do not.

You rant about the Kosova mafia, and pretend that you do not see the complete criminalization of the society you live in. The whole world knows that your mafia killed your former Prime Minister. Yet, you continue with the motto of “Attack is the best defense”.

When one is short of facts or arguments for a given notion, one uses great words to throw over a smoke screen. The head cleric of Kosova, Artemije, who has for several years misinformed and spread lies against the independence of Kosova in American and European offices, a few days ago said: Kosova can not become a state, for the reason that during World War II they were on Hitler’s side.

His excellence no doubt knows but refuses to openly admit, as it would distress him, that in terms of entertaining friendship with the Fuhrer and subservient stand towards him, that there is no match in Europe with the Serbs or their government. Belgrade had its own “Auschwitz’s” concentration camps in Batajnica, Kosutnjak, Sajmiste, etc. The Serb government of the time took pride in that it uncovered trucks with poisonous gas in them, which were used to transport Jews into these “concentration camps”. With delirious pride the Serb government relayed to Berlin in 1942 the news that Belgrade was the first European city totally rid of Jews. In other words, Jews in the Serb capital had been exterminated.

In Kosova however, neither the Albanians nor its quisling rule, not only did they not kill or denounce any Jews but organized their secret transfer to safety in Albania. Your excellence, another bit of information on the side: Albania (which at that time included a large section of Kosova) was the only country in Europe where the number of Jews after the World War II grew bigger then it was prior to the war. This is also ascertained by Jews themselves. The facts are stubborn, whereas the bluffs of your propaganda which come in abundance, in a case such as this, are not worth a dime.

Nonetheless, the contribution of your Institution represents one of the main pillars of the deafening anti-Kosovar propaganda. Its specter of political colors, whether of black or red provenance, or their coalition with a false white, you carefully put under the lid with your irritating medieval incense. Worse than its lure and enticement is your scandalous, direct and programmed continuous effort in involving others in lay works of this world, in flagrant violation of your primary gospel mission of ennoblement human souls, which is also the founding purpose of Christianity.

Many have claimed that your actions in the forming of public opinion of your community are based on religious nationalist and fascist ideas. As if this wasn’t enough, there came the wholehearted support and encouragement of the Milosevic criminal regime, some of your higher ranking hierarchy did not hesitate to display military awards obtained, with high importance naturally. The Gods Shepherds became colonels. We would like to believe that these are cases of moments of madness of specific individuals. Even the blessing of the death squads setting off on their missions in Bosnia and else, were not some innocent religious rituals.

You are the essence of the doomed Serb myth on Kosova. You turned that into opium for your nationalist violent people, while your political intellectual elite turned that into an icon of expansionist aspirations to the detriment of Albanian lands in the region. Now that your historiography of manipulated claims with everlasting pretension on political and territorial possessing of Kosova is coming to an end, you are consumed by your own agitation. You were the designer of this vicious circle and it must be difficult indeed to break free from it. Even Trocki back in 1913 warned that by occupying Kosova, Serbia was taking over a very serious burden that will never allow the latter to develop or democratize.

Your dying state propaganda chorus, anti-Kosovar secular and ecclesiastical, whether as an attempt to influence the international community or a justification instrument in the eyes of internal public opinion, have in common the paradoxal confrontation with dialectical objectivity of historical development of processes and even more absurdly ignoring the new reality in and out of Kosova, as a consequence of such processes.

The break up of former USSR federal states, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were examples of historic objective processes in Europe, and the independence of Kosova represents the most natural final act of the break up of the former SFRY. Any other interpretation is a farce. You are well aware of this, but due to the arrogance and prepotency that distinguishes you, you claim to have won, not lost, for wars, you try to duck this issue with various machinery, by blackmail and even threats.

You lecture the world how if Kosova was to become independent, basic principles of international right would be violated, whilst you know well how the latter sanctions the initiators of aggression wars, and in particular their losers; you blackmail using instances from political map of Europe and outside it, forgetting that these comparisons are not typical and total nonsense; you threat using Bosnian Serbs, with the peace in the region and further away and with other absurdities, that no longer hold truth.

In relation with Kosova and the obstructions you generate, you attempt to undermine the new reality. With a catalog of pretentious subject you nurture or even invent, you aspire in stopping unstoppable processes: whether is freedom of movement, decentralization, privatization, return of the displaced, etc. and all this in the name of protecting the rights of Serbs in Kosova. A washed out political hypocrisy and known to everyone, a very transparent camouflage trying to obscure your colonial ambitions. Your countrymen fatalist views on Kosova are also symptomatic, since they connect their collective fate with the paternalization of Belgrade. Fanatic and nostalgia-ridden illusionist beyond repair, just how you want them to be, we trust they will not again assume the notorious role of Kosovar “wolgdeutscher”, as in the times when the Dedinje sovereign ruled, despite their public statement indicating otherwise.

The tactics you implement are meticulously calculated and highly flexible: if Kosova nevertheless gains independence, then if possible, damage the state’s vertebral column, decapitate it at the start, let it not become a member state in the UN, let it not have full sovereignty or postpone it for another time, let it not have an army, etc. Much time and space is required to properly dwell upon these subjects.

Pointers to a specific thinking, self-conscious and paranoid, not individual however, are the absurd gut reactions against the formation of the Kosova army. Bitter reminisces of the evil of a recent past, blurry hypothetical associations with the fact that same price may be repaid, or cultivation of crazy grudge-bearing ideas that once again we will gain occupied Kosova back at any cost? As far as the former is concerned, let that be food for thought and contemplation for you, since in any case the army of Kosova sirs shall be an organized institution based on the modern notions of NATO as its ally, its ranks consisting of those that took the brunt of the liberation war as well as members of all communities in Kosova. It will be placed under the control of civil, democratic institutions, shall not have expansionist ambitions, but will serve in the protection of the independence of Kosova. It will not degenerate and deteriorate to the point of killing women, children or elderly. Your unruly army slaughtered and massacred, burnt and scorched throughout Kosova, and according to its own confirmations, killed 835 children, infants and teenagers, not counting hundred and thousands of unarmed civilians. Such gruesome crimes the civilized world has not yet seen anywhere.

Regarding the second point and likely tendencies of a possible alternative adventure in Kosova, a capable army would be the best response and necessary raison d’etre. More so if taking into account your daily gun tooting threats. Consequently, claims that it may pose danger to the regional peace are but cynical and immoral.

Murat Blaku Ph.D.
(Author is a resident Lecturer in the Faculty of Philology, University of Prishtina)

Stop talk of Kosovo delay, say Western powers

2006-10-05T21:13:00.000-04:00

PRISTINA, Serbia, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Britain and the United States said on Thursday they remain committed to seeking a decision this year on whether or not Kosovo becomes independent from Serbia as its ethnic Albanian majority demands.

Moving to scotch talk of a possible delay, which might carry the risk of triggering violence by extremists, American and British officials in the capital, Pristina, said there had been no change in their commitment to a solution before 2007.

The statements followed a comment by United Nations mediator Marrti Ahtisaari that a snap Serbian general election likely to be held in December might persuade the U.N. to delay a decision on the proposed solution that he is due to submit next month.

The U.N. has run Kosovo since 1999 when NATO drove Serb forces out of the southern province. "There has been speculation about the time-line of the status process," the head of the British liaison office, David Blunt, said in a statement.

"The recent ministerial statement of the Contact Group made it clear that all possible efforts will be made to achieve a settlement in the course of 2006. That remains our target."

Britain, the U.S., France, Germany, Italy and Russia form the Contact Group of major powers.

A U.S. official in Pristina, Tina Kaidanow, told reporters that Washington was also "still guided by the Contact Group ministers' statement on Sept 20."

"Nothing has changed and we will continue in that way," she said at a news conference with Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku.

"All the representatives of foreign offices in Pristina told me that they support the Contact Group statement," Ceku said. "There is no change regarding the agenda of status."

Tensions between Albanians and Serbs remain high seven years after the 1998-99 Albanian insurgency and ensuing Serb crackdown, which ultimately provoked the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, then ruled by the late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

In March 2004, 19 people died and hundreds of homes burned in two days of Albanian riots that took the NATO-led peace force and the United Nations by surprise. They have vowed there must be no repeat, but violence is never far from Kosovo's surface.

Serbia says Kosovo, with a 90 percent Albanian majority, can have the fullest possible autonomy but no independence, no U.N. seat, no international borders and no army.

Direct talks between the two, mediated by Ahtisaari, have shown no glint of compromise and some Western diplomats expect Ahtisaari will recommend a form of conditional independence when he reports to the Security Council in November.

But not all agree. Some Western diplomats say the former Finnish president may report that Kosovo is still some way from establishing the necessary democratic standards to merit self-determination.

Troubling times - The Balkans

2006-10-05T21:10:00.000-04:00

(c) The Economist Newspaper Limited, London 2006. All rights reserved
Bad news from the Balkans

The future of both Kosovo and Bosnia gets murkier

THE Balkan endgame is starting to look messy. Expectations that Kosovo would be independent by early next year have just suffered a blow. Over 1.8m of the Serbian province's 2m people are ethnic Albanians who will settle for nothing less than independence. Yet the UN talks on Kosovo under Martti Ahtisaari, a former Finnish president, have got nowhere. Two weeks ago Mr Ahtisaari was given the go-ahead to draft his own plan for Kosovo's future. On September 22nd the UN Security Council said it hoped that the talks would finish by the end of the year.

Mr Ahtisaari, who is likely to propose some form of independence, was expected to present his plan later this month. But on September 30th the Serbian parliament adopted a new constitution that declares Kosovo to be an inalienable part of Serbia. This was a shrewd delaying tactic on the part of Vojislav Kostunica, the Serbian prime minister. The constitution must be ratified in a referendum at the end of October, and it will be followed by an election. Mr Ahtisaari can hardly put forward his plan before then, as the voters might react by switching in droves to the extreme nationalist Radical Party. That could destabilise the whole region.

Diplomats dealing with Kosovo prefer Serbia to have its election first, in the hope that democratic forces will win and then come round to accepting Kosovo's independence. But the election could be delayed. And if Kosovo's Albanians then start fretting that Serbia is successfully outmanoeuvring them, there is a risk that extremists among them will return to violence, which would not do their cause any good.

Voters in Bosnia also caused an upset on October 1st. A majority chose to put Bosnia's wartime foreign minister, Haris Silajdzic, into the Bosniak (Muslim) presidential seat in Sarajevo, turning out Sulejman Tihic, who was seen by Western diplomats as a moderate with whom they could work. Mr Silajdzic wants to scrap the Bosniak-Croat federation, as well as the Serbs' Republika Srpska. That upsets the Croats, who form a 14% minority, mostly in the south and west of the country. It also ruffles Milorad Dodik, who was easily re-elected as prime minister of Republika Srpska.

Many Bosnian Serbs see their republic as a legitimate legacy of the war. Mr Dodik has been making secessionist rumblings, claiming that, should Kosovo gain independence, his republic should be allowed to do so as well. The election of Mr Silajdzic will encourage more such talk, even though Bosnia's international overseers firmly reject the idea.

Christian Schwarz-Schilling, the German who now wields the power of international proconsul, has said that his office should be closed in mid-2007. It will be replaced by a lower-key European Union mission (and some of the 6,000 soldiers of the EU peacekeeping mission will stay). Although most parties in Bosnia say they want to get into the EU, one analyst, Senad Pecanin, fears that the necessary reforms could be blocked by the political radicalisation that is splitting the country into opposing camps. It does not help the moderates in Bosnia and Kosovo—nor in Serbia, for that matter—that the mood in Brussels and other EU capitals has recently turned against letting any more countries into their club.

Serbian premier "astonished" at Kosovo envoy's statement on elections

2006-10-04T22:27:00.000-04:00

Excerpt from report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet

Belgrade, 4 October: Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said today that a statement made by special UN envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari that the solution of the future status of Kosovo could be delayed because of elections in Serbia was astonishing.

"According to the mandate that the UN Secretary General granted Mr Ahtisaari, Ahtisaari absolutely has no right to deal with issues relating to when a sovereign country will hold elections. He has already encroached upon the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia beyond his mandate. He has also done so on this occasion," Kostunica told journalists in the Serbian government building.

He went on to say that the Serbian government and all institutions had their agenda.

"That agenda is clear. The assembly has adopted the constitution; the nation should accept the constitution in a referendum. This should then be followed by elections," Kostunica said. [Passage omitted]

Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1228 gmt 4 Oct 06

Kosovo says Serb polls must not delay independence

2006-10-04T22:24:00.000-04:00

PRISTINA, Serbia, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Kosovo Albanian leaders called on the United Nations on Wednesday not to postpone a decision on the fate of their breakaway province until after snap elections in Serbia.

U.N. mediator Martti Ahtisaari told Finnish television on Tuesday that if Serbia called a general election for late December, he might put back his proposal, widely expected to back Kosovo's demand for independence.

But the Kosovo government, which is promising 2 million impatient ethnic Albanians their own state from Jan. 1, said Serbian polls "must not have any impact on the status process".

"We are working towards a status resolution within the timeframe set by the Contact Group, and that is within the year," said Arben Qirezi, senior adviser to the prime minister, referring to the six-nation Contact Group of Western powers and Russia.

The popular opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo, with its voter base in Kosovo's former guerrilla heartlands, said a delay would "create uncertainty inside and outside Kosovo".

"The credibility of the negotiations and the negotiators themselves would be lost," said senior party member Hajredin Kuci.

The United States and major European powers had insisted on a deal in 2006, concerned that delay could spark fresh violence in a territory patrolled by 16,000 NATO-led troops. Kosovo's leaders have avoided telling their people they might have to wait, or that a delay could be swallowed.

The U.N. governor in Kosovo, charged with steering the impoverished province through what promises to be a tense transition, said an early solution was essential.

"I'm sure the Contact Group and of course Mr Ahtisaari and the key players are very conscious of the critical importance of having an early solution," said German Joachim Ruecker.

Ahtisaari had been expected to make his proposal by November. But with the Serbian government on the ropes over suspended European Union talks and headed for early elections, Ahtisaari said the Contact Group might tell him to wait.

"If the election date will be at the end of this year, it might be that in the Contact Group there is a will to reconsider the timetable and maybe it will mean that my proposal, which is under preparation, would be presented only after the elections," Ahtisaari told Finland's public broadcaster, YLE.

Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombs drove out Serb forces accused of civilian killings and ethnic cleansing in a two-year war with guerrillas. Ninety percent of its people are Albanians, who lost 10,000 to the war.

Ahtisaari opened direct talks in February in Vienna, but there has been no compromise on the central issue of Kosovo's future status. The U.N. Security Council looks certain to impose a solution, which diplomats say will bring a form of independence supervised and policed by the EU.

Diplomats say at least several weeks and perhaps months could pass between Ahtisaari's proposal and a U.N. vote.

(Additional reporting by Shaban Buza and Branislav Krstic)

Albanian PM calls for independence for Kosovo

2006-10-03T20:38:00.000-04:00

Albania's prime minister on Tuesday called for independence for Kosovo, a U.N.-governed province of Serbia with a mostly ethnic Albanian population.

"We think that Kosovo's final status ... should respect the wish for independence expressed by the people of Kosovo," Sali Berisha told the parliamentary assembly of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe.

"I think that independence for Kosovo is essential for its economic development and crucial for both its stability and that of the region."

The United Nations is expected to decide within months whether to grant Kosovo a form of supervised independence, seven years after NATO wrested control of the province from Serbia to stop what it said was becoming a bloodbath.

Serbia says Kosovo's amputation would violate international law and embolden ethnic separatists across Europe and its parliament is set to adopt a new state constitution that enshrines Kosovo as Serb land forever.

However, an opinion poll published last week showed just 12 percent of Serbs believe Belgrade would hold on to Kosovo. The province's 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority favors independence from Serbia.

Berisha made it clear that it was unlikely that Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians could come to an agreement on their own.

"The only possibility which remains is an imposed agreement as has been the case with all the important accords in the history of the Balkans in the last 150 years," he said.

Serbian polls could delay Kosovo plan -Ahtisaari

2006-10-03T20:37:00.000-04:00

HELSINKI, Oct 3 (Reuters) - A possible parliamentary election in Serbia in December could mean a delay in the submission of a proposal to settle the status of Kosovo, U.N.-appointed mediator Martti Ahtisaari said on Tuesday.

Ahtisaari, expected to submit a proposal by November on the future of the U.N.-administered province, said his plan might have to wait until after a Serbian election if one is called for December.

"If the election date will be at the end of this year, it might be that in the Contact Group there is a will to reconsider the timetable and maybe it will mean that my proposal, which is under preparation, would be presented only after the elections," he told Finnish public broadcaster YLE television.

A key party in Serbia's minority coalition resigned its cabinet posts on Sunday in a moved aimed at ensuring an early election.

Ahtisaari declined to comment on the substance of his proposal for Kosovo, which the United Nations could then impose.

But diplomats widely expect the former Finnish president to suggest a form of independence for the territory of 2 million people -- 90 percent of whom are Albanians.

That would set up a showdown with Belgrade seven years after NATO wrested control of the province from Serbia to stop what it said was becoming a bloodbath.

The United States said last week Kosovo was unstable and that its future must be resolved this year. Its stance reflects concern in the West that delaying a decision risks fresh violence, a fear underlined by attacks on Kosovo's remaining Serbs.

Russia, Serbia's traditional ally in the U.N. Security Council, has cautioned against "artificial deadlines" and insists Serbia and Kosovo's Albanians be given time to reach a negotiated settlement in talks that began in February.

The six-member Contact Group overseeing Balkan diplomacy comprises the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Italy.

Local, international officials in Kosovo dismiss new Serbian constitution

2006-10-03T20:30:00.000-04:00

Text of report by Radio-Television Kosovo TV website on 2 October

Local and international officials have reacted to the decision by the Serbian parliament to adopt a draft constitution which defines Kosova [Kosovo] as an integral part of Serbia. UNMIK [UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo] chief Joachim Ruecker said that the new constitution of Serbia will have no impact on Kosova's current political status. Kosova is under the administration of the United Nations and the decision of the Serbian parliament will not affect it. In general it seems that the Serbs are hardening their positions instead of making them more flexible, concluded UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker.

The OSCE has criticized Serbia for adopting its new constitution. Belgrade's move on Kosova has been deemed hasty, but this newly passed constitution will have no impact on the outcome of Kosova's status, says a statement released by the OSCE.

Deputy Prime Minister Lutfi Haziri said that inclusion of Kosova in the new Serbian constitution is a call to war. This act is a serious action that aims at preventing the independence of Kosova even though this is more of a political game played for internal aims and with no effect on the processes going on in Kosova, said Deputy Prime Minister Lutfi Haziri.

President Sejdiu's advisor Skender Hyseni said: This is just another game from Belgrade. We are used to Belgrade's games. Kosova may be part of Serbia just as Azerbaijan or any other state is part of it. The new constitution will not endanger the negotiation process on Kosova's status in any way.

Prime Minister Ceku's advisor Avni Arifi said that this recent move by Belgrade shows that Serbia still has some unresolved issues with itself. We are committed to work closely with UN special envoy for Kosova status talks Martti Ahtisaari on the process for defining the political status of Kosova in full accordance with the principles set out by the Contact Group, stressed Avni Arifi.

Jakup Krasniqi, secretary general of the Democratic Party of Kosova, said: Serbia is continuing Milosevic's policies and the traditional Serbian policies against Albanians. Kosova has already separated from Serbia and it is now awaiting international recognition. The problem of the new Serbian constitution is an issue that the international community has to deal with, while we have to deal with our own affairs, said Jakup Krasniqi.

ORA [Hour party] official Nazim Jashari said that inclusion of Kosova in the new Serbian constitution can only have negative repercussions. It represents a unilateral move that interferes with the process for status resolution. It remains to be seen how we will react and whether we will be able to come out with a clear position which will neither diminish the act of the Serbian parliament, nor exaggerate its importance, said Nazim Jashari.

Source: RTK TV website, Pristina, in Albanian 2 Oct 06

US Blasts Claim To Kosovo In Proposed Serbia Constitution

2006-10-02T20:27:00.000-04:00

WASHINGTON (AP)--The U.S. condemned the Serbian parliament's decision to accept a constitution that would declare Kosovo irrevocably a part of Serbia.

State Department Spokesman Tom Casey point out Monday that the future of the rebellious province is being negotiated under a U.N. Security Council resolution in talks headed by a U.N. negotiator.

"Neither party is going to unilaterally decide this," Casey said. "This is going to be something that's going to have to be worked out among them through this negotiated process."

Kosovo, in southwestern Serbia next to Albania, has an ethnic Albanian majority population. The province has been under the administration of the United Nations since a U.S.-led 78-day bombing campaign ended a Serbian crackdown in 1999.

The Serbian parliament voted unanimously Sunday for a constitution that would declare that "Kosovo always has been and always will be an integral part of Serbia," said Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica.

Serbians will vote on the constitution in an Oct. 28-29 referendum.

Because the State Department has not seen the text of the document, Casey said he had no comment on what was passed. But he said: "The international community has made it clear how this issue of Kosovo's final status will be resolved, and that's through (the) negotiated process."

State Department says Kosovo will be settled by talks, not by new Serbian constitution

2006-10-02T20:26:00.000-04:00

WASHINGTON (AP) - A U.S. State Department spokesman in effect rejected on Monday the acceptance by the Serbian parliament of a constitution that would declare Kosovo irrevocably a part of Serbia.

Spokesman Tom Casey noted that the future of the rebellious province is being negotiated under a U.N. Security Council resolution in talks headed by a U.N. negotiator.

"Neither party is going to unilaterally decide this," Casey said. "This is going to be something that's going to have to be worked out among them through this negotiated process."

Kosovo, in southwestern Serbia beside Albania, has an ethnic Albanian majority population and has been under the administration of the United Nations since a U.S.-led 78-day bombing campaign ended a Serbian crackdown in 1999.

The Serbian parliament voted unanimously on Sunday for a constitution that would declare that "Kosovo always has been and always will be an integral part of Serbia," said Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica.

Serbians will vote on the constitution in an Oct. 28-29 referendum.

Because the State Department has not seen the text of the document, Casey said he had no comment on what was passed. But, he said: "The international community has made it clear how this issue of Kosovo's final status will be resolved, and that's through (the) negotiated process" currently under way.

Trial opens in Serbia for 8 former policemen charged in Kosovo massacre

2006-10-02T20:25:00.000-04:00

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) - Eight former Serbian policemen went on trial in Belgrade on Monday on charges related to one of the worst massacres of the Kosovo war.

The eight, including former senior police commanders, are accused of executing 48 ethnic Albanian civilians, all but one from a single family, in Suva Reka in March 1999.

The victims included 14 children, two infants, a pregnant woman and a 100-year-old woman. Their bodies were later dumped in a mass grave at a police training camp near Belgrade, where they were discovered in 2001.

Monday's proceedings were the first here in connection with the mass graves of Kosovo victims found in central Serbia after former President Slobodan Milosevic was ousted in 2000 by a pro-Western coalition.

Among the defendants were the former assistant commander of the elite Gendarmerie unit, Radoslav Mitrovic, who served a special police commander in Kosovo during the war, as well as former police commander in Suva Reka, Radojko Repanovic. The others were lower-ranking policemen and state security officials.

Mitrovic pleaded not guilty and claimed he was in another Kosovo town at the time of the Suva Reka killings. The hearings were to continue Tuesday, with the other suspects entering pleas.

Bruno Vekaric, the spokesman for the war crimes prosecutor's office, said the case against the suspects was "solid." The defendants each face up to 40 years in prison if convicted.

The war crimes trials in Serbia are considered a test of the Balkan republic's ability to impose justice and face its nationalist past.

About 10,000 people were killed during the Kosovo war, which erupted in 1998 when ethnic Albanians launched a rebellion against Serbia's rule.

The brutality of Serbia's crackdown against the Kosovo rebels prompted NATO in 1999 to bomb Serbia for 78 days, forcing Serb troops to pull out of the province.

Kosovo has been an international protectorate since 1999, and talks are under way to determine its future status.

Milosevic, who was accused of orchestrating the Kosovo conflict and other Balkan wars, died in March while on trial for genocide at the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. Several other Serbian officials are also being tried there in connection with the Kosovo atrocities.

UN Administrator says Serbian constitution has no effect on Kosovo

2006-10-02T20:22:00.000-04:00

PRISTINA, Oct 2 (Hina) - The UN Civilian Administrator in Kosovo, Joachim Ruecker, has said that this area is under the administration of the United Nations and the adoption of a Serbian constitution defining Kosovo as integral part of Serbian territory will have no effects on the final political status of this province.

The Constitution of Serbia will have no effect on the political status of Kosovo, which is under the control of the UN Mission (UNMIK), in accordance with the UN Security Council's Resolution 1244. This will produce no effect to the current status of Kosovo, Ruecker told the local media in Pristina on Monday, two days after the Serbian national assembly approved a draft of the new constitution. Before being promulgated, the document must win two thirds of votes at a referendum scheduled for 28 and 29 October.

Representatives of Kosovo institutions and local Albanian leaders have assessed that the adoption of the new Serbian constitution whose preamble stipulates that Kosovo is part of Serbia is a new political game of Serbia's leadership with the aim of rendering relations in the Balkans more complicated.

Kosovo was a province of Serbia but Belgrade has had no authority over the region since a 1999 NATO air strikes forced Serb troops to pull out and end persecutions against local Albanians. Currently, Kosovo Albanians account for the lion's share of the population.

Serbs see Kosovo lost despite wishful thinking

2006-09-29T19:40:00.000-04:00

BELGRADE, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Just 12 percent of Serbs believe Serbia will hold on to its Kosovo province, according to the results of an opinion poll published on Friday that fly in the face of Belgrade's official line.

Fifty-eight percent said they wanted the United Nations-administered province to remain part of Serbia, but few believe it is a realistic expectation, said pollster Marko Blagojevic.

"We have two dimensions here. One emotional, and the other rational," said Blagojevic, of the respected Centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID).

Serbian leaders "managed to convince the people they want Kosovo to remain part of Serbia, but simply did not make a good enough case for them to expect this," he said.

The United Nations is expected to decide within months whether to grant Kosovo a form of supervised independence, seven years after NATO wrested control of the majority Albanian province to stop what it said was becoming a bloodbath.

Serbia says Kosovo's amputation would violate international law and embolden ethnic separatists across Europe. Parliament is poised to adopt a new state constitution that enshrines Kosovo as Serb land forever. Rhetoric plays constantly on its almost mythic status, the Serbs' Orthodox heartland and site of their epic 1389 defeat by the Ottoman Turks.

But of two million people who live there, 90 percent are ethnic Albanians who lost 10,000 people in the 1998-99 conflict and would see any return to Serb rule as a fresh call to war.

Diplomats say independence is almost certain.

According to the CeSID poll, conducted between Aug 26 and Sept 5, 36 percent said they expected independence. Seventeen percent thought the territory would be split in two, with Serbia taking a thin slice of mainly Serb land in the north.

Only 12 percent thought Kosovo would remain an autonomous region of Serbia, while 29 percent were unsure.

Serbs and Albanians opened direct talks in February in Vienna but there has been no compromise on the central issue of Kosovo's future status. U.N. mediator Martti Ahtisaari is expected to propose a solution by November which the U.N. could then impose.

Serbia Drafts New Constitution Claiming Kosovo

2006-09-29T19:39:00.000-04:00

BELGRADE (AP)--Serbia's leaders have drafted a new constitution that declares Kosovo an integral part of the republic, regardless of the ongoing U.N.-brokered talks on the future of the province, a government official said Friday.

Government minister Zoran Loncar said the draft constitution would be submitted to the Serbian parliament for an urgent review and a vote, to be followed by a national referendum.

Parliament officials said the review could be held as soon as Saturday, while the referendum could take place in early November.

The new constitution needs to be approved by a two-thirds majority in the 250-member assembly, and confirmed by the referendum, before it can take effect. It could also lead to early elections in late 2006 or 2007.

The new constitution is designed to underscore Serbia's opposition to Kosovo's possible secession. It also, however, is widely seen as a face-saving effort by Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who is facing a government crisis and possible walkout of a key coalition member.

The Liberal G17 Party has threatened to leave the Cabinet over Serbia's failure to arrest top war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic and resume pre-entry talks with the European Union.

The constitution would declare Kosovo - Serbia's southern region that has been a U.N. protectorate since 1999 - part of the republic, in an apparent bid to counter increasing signs that Kosovo will be granted some form of independence at the international talks.

Passage of the new constitution would effectively rule out Belgrade's consent for Kosovo's independence.

"If four million people were to vote in the referendum, that would show to the international community that Serbia is united in its bid to preserve its identity," Vojislav Mihailovic, the deputy parliament speaker, told reporters Friday.

Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since NATO bombed Serbia in 1999 to halt Belgrade's crackdown against the separatist ethnic Albanians. Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians insist on independence, while Belgrade says the region should remain at least formally within Serbia's boundaries.

Though Serbian leaders have pledged to oppose independence for Kosovo, they have ruled out armed conflict over the province.

About 10,000 people were killed in Kosovo during the 1998-99 war.

The draft constitution also pledges Serbia's commitment to European standards and grants a form of self-rule to the northern, Vojvodina province, said Dusan Petrovic, from the pro-Western Democratic Party. No other details about the draft's contents were immediately available.

Serb lynchpin party clams up on threat to quit

2006-09-29T19:34:00.000-04:00

BELGRADE, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Serbia's liberal G17 Plus party kept the country guessing on Friday over its vow to quit the coalition of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and bring down his government, triggering a snap election.

Finance Minister Mladjan Dinkic, leader of the party, refused to say if he and three other ministers will carry out their threat to resign on Oct. 1 if European Union membership talks which the EU suspended in May are not resumed. "I will hold a news conference on October 1 and everything will be clear then. The decision by the G17 Plus executive is known and we keep our word. This is all I can say about it," Dinkic told reporters in the Serbian parliament.

Asked by Beta news agency if the G17 Plus deputies will take part in a special session of parliament to vote in a new Serbian constitution, Dinkic said "there are no obstacles" to that.

Dinkic has warned repeatedly that G17 Plus will carry out its threat to walk out on Kostunica by Oct. 1 unless Belgrade gives the EU good grounds for unfreezing the talks.

That move depends on Serbia convincing the Hague tribunal it is doing its utmost to track down and arrest war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic.

But Hague chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte and EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn scotched any hope of an early resumption of the talks on Friday. Del Ponte said Belgrade was still "far away from full cooperation" and Rehn added "there is no sign of progress from the Serbian side".

CLEARING THE DECKS

Del Ponte was due to visit Serbia next week.

Former G17 Plus leader Miroljub Labus resigned as deputy prime minister in May, saying Kostunica's failure to arrest Mladic was harming Serbia's efforts to join the EU.

G17 Plus said on Thursday its four ministers would tender their resignations formally on Friday to Kostunica.

Seemingly clearing the decks for a snap election, the government worked late into the night to agree the text of the new constitution, replacing the defunct Milosevic-era text, and parliament adopted a revised 2006 budget for the country. Media reports say the constitution could be adopted by referendum at the end of October or early November, with a snap national election possible in mid to late December.

An early election in Serbia could coincide with a U.N. Security Council decision on the fate of its Kosovo province, run by the United Nations and policed by NATO since Serb forces were driven out by NATO bombing in 1999.

A decision to give Kosovo's 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority the independence they demand, over Belgrade's strongest objections, would be taken as a slap in the face by Serbs and could benefit the ultranationalist Radicals, the country's strongest single party.

US Catholic archbishop pledges continued support for Kosovo

2006-09-28T19:43:00.000-04:00

Prishtina [Pristina], 28 September: The Catholic Church archbishop of Washington DC, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, following today's meeting with Kosova [Kosovo] President Fatmir Sejdiu promised that the Catholic Church will continue to support the processes that Kosova is going through.

He said that he is here to help the future of Kosova, as well as to help the future of these remarkable people. The Catholic Relief Service helps in bad times and also good times.

According to McCarrick, the Catholic Church and the catholic community in Kosova are part of the future of this nation and this is a very specific moment for them, but also for Europe and the world as well, adding that the Kosovar leadership can contribute to the future of Kosova and the entire humanity.

On the other hand, President Sejdiu promised to Cardinal McCarrick that Kosova's population, as a cultured and tolerant nation, will continue to generate cooperative energy with all its friends.

Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 28 Sep 06

Kosovo police seize Yugoslav-made mortar shells

2006-09-28T19:42:00.000-04:00

Text of report in English by independent internet news agency KosovaLive

Ferizaj [Urosevac], 28 September: After receiving report from a citizen, the Ferizaj and Shterpce [Strpce] regional police discovered today 72 mine-thrower missiles in a forest near the place called Tershana in Brezovice [Brezovica].

The regional spokesperson for police in Ferizaj, Behxhet Krasniqi, said that they have found six green wooden cases, each of them containing twelve Yugoslav made 60-millimeter missiles.

Krasniqi said that the mine-thrower ammunition has been seized by the Kfor [Kosovo Force] EOD [Explosive Ordnance Disposal].

Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 28 Sep 06