Please note the question by the US UN ambassador.
------------------------ Associated Press Newswires April 04, 2007 03:01 GMT U.S. and key European nations support Kosovo independence but Russia sympathizes with keeping the province part of Serbia By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. Security Council tackled the contentious issue of Kosovo's future status for the first time Tuesday, with the U.S. and key European nations strongly supporting eventual independence and Russia sympathetic to keeping the province part of Serbia. The division among the veto-wielding permanent members signaled an uphill struggle to reach agreement in the council on Kosovo, which has been under U.N. and NATO administration since a 78-day NATO-led air war that halted a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in 1999. Martti Ahtisaari, the former Finnish president who mediated yearlong talks between Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians and minority Serbs, appeared before the council to present his plan which recommends internationally supervised independence for the contested territory. "This is an important day because it starts a process," he said. "I wouldn't like to say that this is a marathon, but it may be at least a 10,000-meter run." Symptomatic of the difficulties ahead was a lengthy and sometimes heated closed-door discussion in the council Tuesday morning on how Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu and Serbian President Vojislav Kostunica would speak to council members. Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin insisted that Kostunica as the representative of a U.N. member state address a closed council meeting in its chamber while Sejdiu, who does not represent a state, speak to council members informally in a basement conference room -- and that's what happened. Kostunica emerged "expressing my satisfaction that the plan for the future status of Kosovo proposed by special envoy Mr. Ahtisaari has not been accepted by Security Council." Reiterating Serbia's offer of "substantial autonomy" for Kosovo, he insisted on further negotiations with a new envoy to replace Ahtasaari, saying "this year or more has been lost." Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, the current council president, dismissed Kostunica's comments. "Any suggestion that the proposals have been rejected or that a new negotiator is being sought are entirely erroneous," he said. "It didn't transpire in any part of the council." Jones Parry said the council will decide in the next few days whether to send a mission to Belgrade and Pristina -- as Russia has proposed -- "and I've no doubt that there will be further discussions here this month." But he said whether and when a resolution will be introduced in the Security Council will be discussed first by the contact group on Kosovo -- Britain, the United States, Russia, Italy, Germany and France. That discussion will likely take place "sometime in April," he said. Jones Parry said Tuesday morning's discussion "was probably quite healthy because underneath it there is a tension." "The tension is between territorial sovereignty, the threat of dismemberment of a nation state, and on the other hand ... the whole question of self-determination, and whether or not in certain circumstances it's right that a territory should actually cede and become independent," he said. Churkin said Russia's main problem with Ahtisaari's proposal "is that it has not been accepted by both sides." During Tuesday's meeting, he said, "one could feel ... that Security Council members, most of them, were in a reflective mood and were trying to analyze the situation and find the best way forward." The Ahtisaari plan is backed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Britain, France and the U.S., and Jones Parry said that there was "considerable support" during Tuesday evening's closed-door discussion. Acting U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said the United States believes supervised independence "is the only option really available." But he said there is a need for more information to explain why the Ahtisaari proposals "are the right way to proceed" -- and why Kostunica's statement that they go against the U.N. Charter, international law, and council resolutions "are wrong." Kosovo's Sejdiu told the Associated Press his message to the council was that "Kosovo is ready to move forward as an independent country and as a member of the family of independent nations in Europe." He urged the council to approve Ahtisaari's plan as soon as possible. What if Russia vetoes a resolution calling for internationally supervised independence? "I like to think positively," Sejdiu replied. "I think this will be a joint decision, a joint agreement by all members of the Security Council." But Serbia's Kostunica was certain there would be no agreement. When reporters told Kostunica that the council had not taken any decision on the plan, he said he was an "optimist" and cited a Serbian saying: "One knows what the day will look like by the morning." During Tuesday's first meeting, Kostunica explained, "it was very clear that things had not gone smoothly" and that many countries opposed Ahtisaari's proposal, including some European Union members. (c) 2007. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
