U.S. envoy: Serbian Kosovo status by April
WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- A U.S. diplomat in Washington said a solution to the future status of Serbia's mainly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo province could be decided by April. U.S. Undersecretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns told Voice of America that U.N. special envoy to Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari will begin a series of talks with Kosovo ethnic-Albanian leaders in Pristina and Serbian authorities in Belgrade soon after Serbia's parliamentary elections set for Jan. 21. Burns said he hoped the Kosovo solution could be found "one to two months" after the Serbian elections. He said Washington does not support any option nor it has proposed any solution to the Kosovo status and added it will do so only after Ahtisaari announces his proposal on who will govern Kosovo, Belgrade's Beta news agency reported. Ahtisaari's proposal will have to be approved by the U.N. Security Council. U.N. administrators and NATO troops have been deployed in Kosovo after the 1999 armed fighting in a bid to contain ethnic conflicts. Over the past years, leaders of ethnic-Albanians who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's population of 1.8 million insist on independence from Belgrade, while the Serbian government in Belgrade, representing 100,000 Serbs in Kosovo, say the province will always be an integral part of Serbia. US plans more Kosovo talks: expert BRUSSELS, Jan 11, 2007 (AFP) - The United States will propose holding two extra weeks of talks on the future of Kosovo after the UN envoy recommends what degree of autonomy the Serbian province should enjoy, an expert said Thursday. The talks are to be led by the UN envoy Marti Ahtisaari and involve Serbian and Kosovo authorities, according to "trustworthy sources" said the expert, an analyst with the International Crisis Group think-tank. "The US is going to propose another two weeks of negotiations in Vienna after Ahtisaari's proposal," said the expert, Alexander Anderson. He said the US move is aimed at overcoming Russian and Serbian objections that there have not been enough talks on Kosovo's future. "There is a hope in western capitals that with a couple of extra weeks of negotiations that Russia's concerns about bringing Serbia on board ... can be assuaged," he said. Russia has taken a tough stand and, as a veto-holding member of the UN Security Council, is likely to block any resolution that would lead to the independence of the majority ethnic Albanian province. "This is an attempt to get around what is likely to be a significant blockage at the security council," the Kosovo-based expert told reporters during a trip to Brussels, referring to the planned talks. But he called the move a "gambit" and said he "would reserve judgement on whether this is going to be enough to sway Russia on coming on board with a UN security council resolution." Anderson said that he expected Kosovo authorities to discuss the initiative on Friday, while he anticipated that Ahtisaari would make his final recommendations in early February. The envoy was due to have made them in December but put off his announcement until elections are held in Serbia on January 21. Election campaigning has been dominated by Kosovo's hopes for independence and seen a rise in nationalist rhetoric, as the province is an integral part of Serbia under its constitution. A European Union diplomat implicitly acknowledged that the plan for further talks exists, and has received some backing within the EU, but refused to credit the United States with responsibility for it. The international diplomatic Contact Group on Kosovo is set to meet on January 26 in Vienna, and Ahtisaari could also unveil his propositions at that time. Moderate victory in Serbia could ease Kosovo solution European News By Andrew Beatty The EU is throwing its weight behind Serbia's pro-EU parties ahead of elections in ten days' time, in the hope of a result that will make a solution to Kosovo's final status easier to reach. Parliamentary elections taking place on 21 January are seen as a contest between hard-line radicals opposed to Kosovo's independence and moderates who may be more inclined to find a negotiated solution. EU member states recently agreed a set of common messages to take to the Serbian voters, which they hope will bolster reformers such as President Boris Tadic´ and his Democratic Party (SD). After the elections, the United Nations' special envoy Marti Ahtisaari will publish his proposals on Kosovo's future status, although no date has yet been set. He is expected to recommend Kosovo be given substantial sovereignty, despite strong opposition from the current Serbian government. Although Kosovo has been a UN protectorate for the last eight years, Belgrade says it remains an essential part of Serbia. EU diplomats are warning that the elections will be crucial in deciding the success of efforts to end the province's status as a UN protectorate in early 2007, as planned. But there are fears that a solution imposed by the UN Security Council could drive Serbia further away from the EU. Many in the EU now hope a victory for the moderates could dampen Serbia's hard-line opposition to independence, or at least stop Serbia from actively opposing a solution. "We have to wait for the elections and to hope for a good result from the democratic and moderate forces," said one EU diplomat. But there appears to be little consensus in the EU about the benefits of a return to talks with a new Serbian government. "We need to be aware of the situation on the ground, the situation in Belgrade, we cannot endanger that by the Kosovo settlement. At the same time we have to be aware of the situation on the ground in Kosovo," said one EU diplomat. If the reformers do well and do not hinder a deal on Kosovo, diplomats said that EU foreign ministers will discuss in February ways of restarting Serbia's talks on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, a key step towards EU membership. Talks on the SAA are frozen over Serbia's failure to capture war crimes suspect Radko Mladic´. Opinion polls indicate the elections will be close. According to one poll the hard-right Serbian Radical Party is leading with 28%. The pro-EU Democratic Party (SD), headed by President Boris Tadic´, narrowly trails on 26-27% and Prime Minister Vojislav Koötunica's Democratic Party of Serbia is trailing on 18%. 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