Contact Group fails to agree on Kosovo
RIA Novosti - December 7, 2007
LONDON, December 7 (RIA Novosti) - A group of international mediators in talks
on Kosovo have submitted to the UN Security Council a report saying that the
parties have failed to reach an agreement, an EU diplomatic source said.
The Contact Group troika of mediators - Russia, the United States and the
European Union - concluded months of talks last week.
He said no agreement was in sight either between Belgrade and Pristina or within
the troika itself, adding that Russia stood firm on its view that independence
could only be granted to Kosovo if Pristina and Belgrade agreed.
Russia will call on the UN Security Council to continue talks on the status of
Serbia's predominantly-Albanian province under the troika's auspices, the
Russian envoy said on Friday.
"Russia is for the continuation of talks. It is really surprising how the troika
has managed to achieve such impressive results in such a short time," Vitaly
Churkin said.
EU representative Wolfgang Ischinger told a news conference on Monday that the
report would state that Belgrade and Pristina had failed to reach a compromise
and would list the proposals made by both the Serbian and Kosovo delegations.
The EU is also split over the issue, and the Slovak government said on Friday it
would not recognize Kosovo's independence should Pristina proclaim independence.
"We will not support Kosovo's independence if Kosovo unilaterally declares
independence without approval by the UN or other important international
organizations," Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said.
Russia's foreign minister said on Friday a decision on Kosovo would set a
precedent for the unrecognized post-Soviet republics.
"A precedent will be created simply because one will have come about," Sergei
Lavrov said, responding to a question about the effect Kosovo's independence
might have on the resolution of conflicts in Georgia and its breakaway
territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, a top EU official said on Thursday that she hoped that
if Kosovo unilaterally declared independence, Russia would not respond by
recognizing the independence of self-proclaimed territories in the former Soviet
Union.
During the latest round of negotiations held in Austria last week, Serbia
reiterated offers for the province's broad autonomy, while Kosovo, a UN
protectorate since 1999, continued to insist on full independence.
Kosovo has threatened to unilaterally declare independence in January if no
agreement is reached with Serbia.
Parliamentary elections in Kosovo on November 17 were won by former rebel leader
Hashim Thaci, who has vowed to declare independence for Kosovo. The province's
ethnic Serb population (around 6%) boycotted the election.
Aleksandar Simic, an adviser to the Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica,
said on Friday that Serbia had the right to use military force to defend its
interests in Kosovo: "The State has no recourse other than war when someone does
not respect the UN Security Council," he told Serbian state television.
A NATO bombing campaign against the former Yugoslavia ended a bloody war between
Serb forces and Albanian separatists in 1999.
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