Kosovo Talks to Start Anew, but Parties Express Doubt
By NICHOLAS WOOD <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/nicholas_wood/index.html?inline=nyt-per> Published: August 28, 2007 BLED, Slovenia, Aug. 27 — The political deadlock over Kosovo <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/serbia/kosovo/index.html?inline=nyt-geo> ’s future is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon despite the start of new negotiations on the province this week, according to two leading politicians involved in the talks. Agim Ceku, Kosovo’s prime minister, and Vuk Jeremic, Serbia’s foreign minister, leading members of the opposing delegations in the talks that begin Wednesday in Vienna, said in recent days that they doubted that a compromise could be reached over the disputed region during the discussions. The new round of talks follows months of unsuccessful deliberations between Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians, who make up the province’s majority and seek independence, and Serbia, which considers Kosovo a integral part of its territory. Western governments, Russia and the United Nations <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/united_nations/index.html?inline=nyt-org> have also been involved, and the coming negotiations are seen by many diplomats as a last chance to reach a negotiated settlement, thereby sparing the international community the task of imposing one. Kosovo has been administered by a United Nations mission since June 1999, when Serbian-dominated Yugoslav security forces, who committed widespread atrocities, were forced by NATO <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/north_atlantic_treaty_organization/index.html?inline=nyt-org> airstrikes to withdraw from the region. Kosovo’s Albanian leadership is now seeking full independence from Serbia, but the Serbian government is willing to let the region run only its own internal affairs, not a defense and foreign policy. In April, 14 months of talks came to an end without an agreement. In July, Russia rejected a United Nations plan that would have granted Kosovo independence with supervision from an international mission. The United States has indicated that it is ready to recognize Kosovo by the end of this year without a negotiated settlement or a Security Council resolution. But European Union <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/e/european_union/index.html?inline=nyt-org> nations are divided. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/28/world/europe/28kosovo.html?ex=1345953600&en=8cb39c2f1098c9cd&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
