<http://www.iht.com/> International Herald Tribune
Serbian government, Church urge reopening of talks on Kosovo The Associated Press Friday, May 25, 2007 BELGRADE, Serbia: Serbia's government and the influential Orthodox Christian Church on Friday called for the reopening of talks on Kosovo, again rejecting a U.N. plan envisaging supervised statehood for the province. The newly elected government said in a statement that the Western-backed plan on the province's future status remained "absolutely unacceptable" to Belgrade, which insists Kosovo be granted broad autonomy within Serbia's borders. Kosovo has been a U.N. protectorate since a 1999 war, when NATO intervened to stop a Serb onslaught against pro-independence ethnic Albanians. Yearlong talks between Serbia and Kosovo Albanians on the province's future status have produced no result. The United States and European countries support granting monitored independence to Kosovo, as proposed in the plan by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari, but Russia opposes it, paving the way for a showdown within the U.N. Security Council which will have a final say on the issue. The United States and its European allies have drafted a resolution on Kosovo based on the Ahtisaari plan. Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has said the republic would not recognize the resolution if passed by the council. The Serbian government instead urged the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and leading powers Friday to "give their contribution to finding peaceful, lasting, sustainable and wholesome solution for Kosovo," by relaunching Serb-Albanian talks. "The basic goal of the new phase of the talks is to reach an agreement ... which would guarantee long-term stability," the Serbian government said. The Serbian Orthodox Church, which has its ancient seat and hundreds of monasteries in Kosovo, also complained that "no one has the right to jeopardize the rights of one nation in the name of another, and to change the existing borders by force." There is still time for more talks and a compromise solution, the church said, warning that "if Kosovo were to be snatched away from Serbia, it would seriously bring into question not only its multi ethnic character, but also the Christian identity of that part of Europe." Kosovo remains the last potential flashpoint in the Balkans following a series of ethnic conflicts in the 1990s. Western officials have warned that if a solution is not found for the province soon violence could break out. Serbian leaders insist that an independent Kosovo could destabilize Serbia, the Balkans and other separatist regions in the world. _____ <http://www.iht.com/> International Herald TribuneCopyright C 2007 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/25/europe/EU-GEN-Serbia-Kosovo.php
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