http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=7120&cid=45&p=03.02.2007
Voice of Russia February 4, 2007 Russia rejects a settlement plan for Kosovo Russia rejects the settlement plan for Kosovo which UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari unveiled in Belgrade on Friday. Russia’s ambassador to Serbia Alexander Alexeyev says the plan makes no mention of a pertinent UN resolution on Kosovo and offers no compromise solutions to the long-running conflict. In keeping with the UN plan, Kosovo will have a national anthem, flag and the right to join international organizations. The region’s Albanian majority wants complete independence for Kosovo. Serbian President Boris Tadic has turned down Mr. Ahtisaari’s roadmap. ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.playfuls.com/news_10_12393-US-Back-Kosovo-Plan-As-Belgrade-Gropes -For-Answer.html Deutsche Presse-Agentur February 5, 2007 US Back Kosovo Plan As Belgrade Gropes For Answer The US envoy for Kosovo, Frank Wisner, on Monday hailed a plan to steer the province toward independence as "excellent," while outraged Serbian politicians struggled to respond to what they consider an "unacceptable" proposal. Martti Ahtisaari, the UN mediator between Belgrade and Pristina, drafted the proposal for Kosovo and presented it on Friday, after a year of talks failed to reach a compromise. The "US believes that ... (Ahtisaari's) proposal is an excellent one," Wisner said after meeting Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu in Pristina. "We encourage all parties to engage constructively in the coming weeks, before the proposal goes to the Security Council." Ahtisaari had called on Serbian and Kosovar leaders to continue negotiating. Serbia adamantly insists on sovereignty over Kosovo while the majority Albanians demand independence. Outlining key elements of statehood, the plan has incensed Serbs, who only offered autonomy to the province, a virtual UN protectorate since 1999. Ahtisaari has so far avoided the word "independence," but Kosovo leaders welcomed his plan as a step toward sovereignty, while Serbia rejected it as "hijacking" its territory. He also invited Belgrade and Pristina to additional talks in February before he sends his plan to the UN Security Council in late March, then with a "clear definition" of the status. UN sources said that he planned a top-level meeting in Vienna on March 3. In Belgrade, Serbian leaders were groping for a response to Ahtisaari's plan, but were stumbling along with only a caretaker government, with the newly-elected parliament still out of sight and a new cabinet even more distant. Ahtisaari delayed his plan from late 2006, to wait out early polls in Serbia on January 21, but refused to wait until a new cabinet was in place. Serbia has been in a political stalemate since the elections, with its parties unable to form a majority coalition and may be forced to hold repeat elections, but not before months go by. Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica had refused to see Ahtisaari Friday, and expressed his displeasure with the envoy and leaving the hot potato but also leadership to his rival, President Boris Tadic. Tadic invited Kostunica and other leaders to his office on Monday to discuss the plan and a response. Belgrade would continue insisting on international laws and inviolability of borders, its main argument to counter the separation of Kosovo. Serbia also hopes that Russia, which said it would not endorse a solution unless it was accepted both by Serbs and Albanians, would block Kosovo's independence. All other big powers involved in the Kosovo issue - US, Germany, Britain, France and Italy - have supported Ahtisaari's plan, directly or through NATO and EU. Kosovo was on the agenda of a EU mission to Moscow, led on Monday by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Taking part with Steinmeier in the talks was EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and the bloc's foreign affairs commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner. The mission travels to Ukraine on Tuesday and would visit Belgrade on Wednesday. =============== Group Moderator: [EMAIL PROTECTED] page at http://magazine.sorabia.net for more informations about current situation in Serbia http://www.sorabia.net Slusajte GLAS SORABIJE nas talk internet-radio (Serbian Only) http://radio.sorabia.net Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sorabia/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sorabia/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
