http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aZb3SaaSXYpk&refer=europ
e
Bloomberg News
August 2, 2007
Kosovo `Political Limbo' Must Be Resolved Soon, NATO
Chief Says
By Ed Johnson
-An independent Kosovo would be the latest country
carved out of the former Yugoslavia after the civil
wars of the 1990s. The breakup of the country led to
independence for Slovenia, Croatia,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
[Every one of the above six new nations is now either
a full member of NATO or of its so-called Partnership
for Peace 'apprenticeship' program. All except Serbia
and newly independent Montenegro have troops in
Afghanistan and Iraq.]
The ``political limbo'' in Kosovo must be resolved
soon, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
said, warning of potential instability in Europe if
the disputed Serbian province's status isn't settled.
``Europe, in particular the Balkans, needs some
resolution to this issue,'' Scheffer said yesterday.
``The unfinished business of Kosovo must be settled
sooner rather than later.''
The province has been under United Nations control
since 1999, when the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization bombed Serbia....NATO has about 16,000
soldiers in the province to maintain security.
Diplomats from the U.S., European Union and Russia
will oversee negotiations between leaders of Serbia
and Kosovo in an effort to settle the province's
future. The U.S. and its European allies back Kosovo's
independence. Serbia, supported by Russia, opposes it
and has offered broad autonomy instead.
Thirteen months of UN-brokered talks between Serbian
and Kosovo leaders collapsed in March without a
settlement.
``The status quo cannot hold indefinitely,'' Scheffer
said in a statement on NATO's Web site. ``We cannot
afford to have a political limbo in the middle of this
continent. We have seen before what that can bring.''
....
UN Plan
UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari, a former president of
Finland, has proposed a phased process of independence
for the province of 2 million people, where ethnic
Albanians outnumber Serbs and others by nine to one.
A draft resolution endorsing the plan was withdrawn
from the UN Security Council last month after Russian
opposed it.
The EU, Russia and U.S. will guide negotiations in
coming months and the wider ``Contact Group,'' which
includes the U.K., Germany, France and Italy, will
report to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on any
progress by Dec. 10, the UN said.
Ban supports the arrangement and said yesterday he
wants the ``new period of engagement'' to lead to an
agreement on the province's status.
``The international community must find a solution
that is timely, addresses the key concerns of all
communities living in Kosovo and provides clarity,''
he said in a statement.
Serbs live mainly in the north of Kosovo. One option
to settle the issue may be to redraw the province's
northern border to incorporate ethnic Serbs into
Serbia.
An independent Kosovo would be the latest country
carved out of the former Yugoslavia after the civil
wars of the 1990s. The breakup of the country led to
independence for Slovenia, Croatia,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
Serbian News Network - SNN
[email protected]
http://www.antic.org/
