UN envoy Ahtisaari says his job in Kosovo finished, Contact Group to take over
BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - July 27, 2007 Friday

Text of report by Finnish newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet website on 26 July

[Report on interview with UN Special Envoy for Kosovo Matti Ahtisaari by Yrsa Grune; by telephone, date not given: "EU, United States, And Russia ToTake Over On Kosovo Issue: Ahtisaari: I Have Finished My Job"]

The main responsibility for the future status of Kosovo now lies with the Contact Group. "My team and I have done our job," UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari told Hufvudstadsbladet.

The so-called Contact Group for former Yugoslavia: France, Italy, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, met in Vienna yesterday to set guidelines for continuing negotiations between the Serbian Government and the regional government in Kosovo.

"It is important to keep things separate, and it is now a matter of two different things. The negotiations that have been conducted under UN auspices are now finished, and we have presented our proposal. I have recommended to the contact group that it start dealing with the problem if no agreement can be reached. But our office does not take part in the negotiations that will now begin," Ahtisaari said on the telephone.

The UN Office of the Special Envoy for Kosovo is ready to help if the Contact Group's negotiators want information on previous negotiations.

"Our office in Vienna and its staff will remain in place until the end of the year. We will continue working just as we have done since November 2005, when the project was launched."

It also cannot be ruled out that the Kosovo issue will eventually be taken up once again by the Security Council.

"It would naturally be good if you could get a decision by the Security Council. That would help get the support of all the EU countries," Ahtisaari said.

President Ahtisaari said he is pleased that the Contact Group will now tackle the issue. "It is important now to give the process the chance to demonstrate that everyone involved has done everything they can to find a solution," he said.

"I just hope that these will not be negotiations on negotiations -and that the members of the Contact Group will be able to agree on a common stance."

The negotiating group will consist of representatives of the EU, the United States, and Russia. Ahtisaari did not know whom EU political spokesman Javier Solana intends to appoint.

"But I think someone from either Germany or France will now join the Contact Group as well."

According to sources in Brussels, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has also been mentioned as a potential member of the negotiating group. Bildt was civil coordinator in Bosnia after the Dayton agreement, but he is considered controversial.

The negotiations will begin in a few weeks' time, but the Contact Group was unwilling to set any time limit.

"The negotiations themselves will naturally determine when the negotiations can be considered finished. But the upper limit people are working with is about 120 days," Ahtisaari said. The negotiators will travel back and forth between Belgrade and Pristina in an attempt to achieve a compromise. But Brussels has also been considered as a negotiating venue. Ahtisaari, who is currently on vacation in Finland, has not decided when he will return to Vienna.

"I now anticipate having time to sit in the sauna and to play golf."

Source: Hufvudstadsbladet website, Helsinki, in Swedish 26 Jul 07

Copyright 2007 British Broadcasting Corporation
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