Serbia to appeal any decision granting Kosovo independence – PM
11.13.07, 10:24 AM ET http://images.forbes.com/media/assets/spacer_white.gif http://images.forbes.com/media/assets/spacer_white.gif BUDAPEST (Thomson Financial) - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica stressed Belgrade's opposition to independence for Kosovo, ahead of proposals from the trio of nations supervising talks on the province's future. Addressing a joint news conference here with his Hungarian counterpart, Ferenc Gyurcsany, Kostunica said Belgrade was willing to grant Kosovo an exceptionally high degree of autonomy and accused leaders of the ethnic Albanian-majority province of refusing to compromise. 'Serbia would appeal any kind of decision that would grant Kosovo independence... but we are ready to give the utmost rights to the Kosovar minority,' Kostunica said. Belgrade is willing to grant Pristina 'total independence and autonomy within Serbia,' he said, adding the leaders in Kosovo were 'practically doing nothing' to reach a compromise. 'They are only sticking to independence,' Kostunica said. The international troika on Kosovo -- the European Union, Russia and the US -- will make concrete proposals next week on the province's future status. Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, said the troika will move from a role 'where it played intermediary' to a 'more proactive attitude' with Serbian and Kosovo negotiators. The three are expected 'to put ideas on the table' at the next round of Kosovo talks in Brussels on Nov 20, once the results of the province's elections this Saturday are known, Gallach said on Monday. Technically still a province of Serbia, Kosovo has been under UN administration since the end of the 1998-1999 conflict, when NATO bombing ended the Belgrade-backed forces' crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists. [EMAIL PROTECTED] afp/cmr COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2007/11/13/afx4333214.html
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