Independence for Kosovo is off the agenda,
envoy reveals
The Independent (UK) - 18 September 2007
By Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor
The international community is backing away from a clear endorsement of
independence for Kosovo. According to the top European negotiator, Kosovo is no
longer being offered internationally-supervised independence from Serbia, in an
apparent concession to Belgrade and Moscow that is likely to infuriate the
disputed province's ethnic Albanian majority.
The envoy, Wolfgang Ischinger, who is the German ambassador to the UK and will
be involved in separate talks in London today and tomorrow with a Serbian and a
Kosovo delegation, said that it was time to get away from "labels" in order to
achieve a "realistic" solution for Kosovo which has been administered by the UN
for the past eight years since Nato's bombing campaign forced Serbia's
withdrawal from the province in 1999. The Kosovo delegation, whose leaders are
threatening to unilaterally declare independence, wants the London talks to
focus on "technical issues between two independent states," the Kosovo Prime
Minister, Agim Ceku, said yesterday before leaving Pristina.
But Mr Ischinger said: "The label is worth nothing. Where are they going to get
their income from? They would continue to rely on foreign aid."
Asked whether the ultimate outcome of the latest negotiations could be
internationally-supervised independence, Mr Ischinger replied: "I would say that
we will try to reach a status solution which will provide for an
internationally-supervised status for Kosovo. I would leave open independence. I
would rather talk about a strong supervised status."
However he added that talks so far with Serbia – which strongly rejects an
outcome of self rule for Kosovo – and the ethnic Albanian delegation had "made
some progress, drawing both parties away from the label. Independence versus
autonomy is a gap which cannot be bridged if you look at the fine print.
International supervision is accepted."
Mr Ischinger also indicated that his "troika" of negotiators, including a US and
a Russian diplomat, had given further ground by agreeing to a Serbian demand
that the plan drawn up by former Finnish president Marti Ahtisaari would not
form the basis for the talks. "I would not insist on the Ahtisaari package, but
it's not off the table," he said.
Russia stymied US and European attempts to endorse Mr Ahtisaari's plan,
providing for de facto independence for Kosovo under EU supervision but
guaranteeing the rights of the Serb minority, by threatening to veto the
settlement at the UN and demanding further negotiations. The UN Security Council
has set a deadline of 10 December for the "troika" to submit a final status
report to the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon. The incentive for both sides to
reach an agreement would be future membership of the European Union. Serbia is
close to signing a stabilisation and association agreement with the EU marking
its first step towards membership, but the move is conditional on Belgrade
handing over the indicted suspect General Ratko Mladic to the UN war crimes
tribunal.
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