[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-serbia-kosovo.html?_r=1 <http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-serbia-kosovo.html?_r=1&; oref=login> &oref=login "If Ahtisaari's plan is adopted, Kosovo could declare independence by the end of the year, becoming Europe's newest state and the last to be carved from the former Yugoslavia." There it is in a nutshell, and what makes them think it is "the last to be carved from the former Yugoslavia." They aren't finished yet. Stella <http://ad.doubleclick.net/imp;v1;f;65412384;0-0;0;15276410;1%7C1;20176941%7 C20194835%7C1;;cs=h%3fhttp:/m.doubleclick.net/dot.gif> <http://www.nytimes.com/> New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/pages/world/index.html> World Serbia Appeals to U.N. To Reject Kosovo Plan * \ <javascript:document.emailThis.submit();> E-Mail By REUTERS Published: March 10, 2007 Filed at 6:43 a.m. ET <http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-serbia-kosovo.html?_r=1&; oref=login#secondParagraph> Skip to next paragraph Reuters VIENNA (Reuters) - Serbia called on the <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/united_ nations/index.html?inline=nyt-org> United Nations on Saturday to reject a Western-backed proposal for the independence of Kosovo. President Boris Tadic made the appeal in Vienna at a final meeting after a year of talks between Serbs and Albanians and before the plan drafted by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari goes to the Security Council. In a copy of his speech distributed to media, Tadic said he expected ``serious debate'' at the <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/securit y_council/index.html?inline=nyt-org> U.N. Security Council. ``If Ahtisaari's proposal was to be accepted, it would be the first time in contemporary history that territory would be taken away from a democratic, peaceful country in order to satisfy the aspirations of a particular ethnic group that already has its nation-state,'' he said. ``The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia cannot be compromised.'' Ahtisaari wants to present the final document to U.N. headquarters by the end of March, eight years to the month since <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/north_a tlantic_treaty_organization/index.html?inline=nyt-org> NATO bombed to wrest control of Kosovo from Serbia and halt the ethnic cleansing of Albanians. Ten thousand Albanians died in Serbia's 1998-99 counter-insurgency war before the United Nations took control. FOREIGN OVERSEER Saturday's meeting was billed more as a prelude to the U.N. Security Council debate -- which the West hopes will happen by June -- than a last chance for agreement, something Ahtisaari had written off weeks ago. ``We will finalize after today's meeting before sending it to the Security Council,'' Ahtisaari's deputy, Albert Rohan, told reporters on arrival at the Hofburg Palace. Serbia is banking on sometime ally Russia using its U.N. veto, or at least delaying the process. NATO allies leading 16,500 troops in Kosovo fear delay would only bring violence. The plan has the backing of the major Western powers, which see no chance of forcing 2 million Albanians back into the arms of Belgrade. ``We came here today to complete this important process and make our contribution to an independent Kosovo,'' Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu told reporters. Though it avoids the word independence, the blueprint sets out the framework for an independent state, under a foreign overseer, a <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/e/europea n_union/index.html?inline=nyt-org> European Union police mission and NATO peace force. It offers self-government and protection for the Serb minority. Unveiled in February, the plan's limitations have won a frosty and at times violent reaction from some of Kosovo's 2 million Albanians. But their leaders have accepted it. Belgrade has offered broad autonomy, but no Kosovo army or foreign ministry, and the return of some Serbian police. Russia says the solution should be acceptable to both sides, but has carefully avoided threatening the use of its U.N. veto. If Ahtisaari's plan is adopted, Kosovo could declare independence by the end of the year, becoming Europe's newest state and the last to be carved from the former Yugoslavia. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
