*U.N. Council goes to Balkans on future of Kosovo * By Evelyn Leopold Reuters Tuesday, April 24, 2007; 5:02 PM
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Security Council members head to the Balkans on Tuesday before deciding whether to adopt an independence plan for Kosovo, with Russia<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/russia.html?nav=el>insisting it was too soon for a decision on Serbia's breakaway province. The trip of 15 envoys to Belgrade, Pristina, Brussels and Vienna was requested by Moscow and seen as a mission to acquaint those council members who had never been to the Balkans. Belgian U.N. Ambassador Johan Verbeke leads the group. But lines have been drawn sharply, with the United States and Europeans Britain<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/greatbritain.html?nav=el>, France<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/france.html?nav=el>, Italy, Belgium and Slovakia backing a plan by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari that would give virtual independence to Kosovo under European Union auspices. It is strongly opposed by Serbia, backed by Russia, Belgrade's closest ally. In Moscow, a deputy foreign minister, Vladimir Titov, told the Interfax news agency that the Ahtisaari plan "will not get through the U.N. Security Council," a hint of a veto and a position not yet taken by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin. In response, Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku asked Moscow for an explanation. "Saying 'no' to the plan is not just a 'no' to us. It is a 'no' to the international community, the United States and United Kingdom," he said. In the main Russia has said frequently it wants further talks between Serbia and Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority before any resolution was put before the council. Such a document needs nine votes in favor and no veto from any of its five permanent members, which include Russia, usually backed by China<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/china.html?nav=el> . But some diplomats believe a resolution might not come to the council's floor if it did not also get support from other members, such as Panama, Peru, Congo Republic, South Africa<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/southafrica.html?nav=el>, Ghana, Indonesia and Qatar. U.S.: IT'S TIME The new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, who is going on the trip, told reporters, "The time has come to bring this to a close," adding, "The Balkans is another region of the world that has been a source of a lot of insecurity and sometimes leaving problems festering for a long time unattended, can lead to bigger problems." Kosovo has been in limbo since 1999 when the United Nations took over the administration after a 78-day NATO bombing campaign ended a crackdown by Serbia on ethnic Albanian Kosovars. A Nato-led peacekeeping force patrols the province. But for Russia's Churkin, it is too early to decide on Kosovo's future status, according to conditions laid down in a 1999 council resolution 1244. He said Belgrade and Pristina should continue negotiations. "In our view a lot is wanting," Churkin told reporters. "Very few Serb refugees have returns to Kosovo after events in 1999 and there are no normal conditions for the lives of ethnic minorities." But Karen Pierce, the deputy British ambassador, argued there was no need for a review of resolution 1244 because the council in 2005 had approved a report saying not much more could be done unless Kosovo's status was resolved and asked Ahtisaari to negotiate. The council five-day mission begins in Brussels with European Union leaders and NATO commanders and ends in Vienna for talks with Ahtisaari.
From there the group goes to Belgrade and then to Pristina and other places
in Kosovo to meet officials from all groups and visit villages like the divided town of Mitrovica. Verbeke, the team leader, said the mission was essentially an information trip "to see with our own eyes how the situation is over there." Britain's Pierce agreed, saying, "It's an opportunity for council members without embassies in the region to talk to the local actors, see for themselves some villages and sites and see a little bit of the regional context." But she warned that "when we come back, at the beginning of May, we will be wanting to take things forward expeditiously." (Added reporting by Moscow and Pristina bureaus) (c) 2007 Reuters http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/24/AR2007042401389_pf.html
