Kosovo News 220607

Kosovo News: UPDATE 220607

* Revised Kosovo Resolution Submitted to U.N. Security Council
* Russia rejects plan paving way for independent Kosovo
* UPDATE: Serbia Praises Russia's Rejection Of UN Kosovo Plan
* EU warns Kosovo against declaring independence

Revised Kosovo Resolution Submitted to U.N. Security Council

Change would allow for 120-day negotiation period between Serbia, Kosovo
By Judy AitaUSINFO United Nations Correspondent

United Nations -- The United States and two European members of the U.N. Security Council have submitted a revised resolution that would pave the way for Kosovo's independence.
Submitted during a closed council meeting June 20, the new draft would allow for a four-month period for negotiations between officials in Serbia and Kosovo to give the two sides time to reach an agreement before the independence plan drawn up by U.N. special envoy Martti Ahtisaari goes into effect. It asks U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "to immediately convoke the parties to continue final status negotiations within the 120-day period" and says that the Ahtisaari plan will go into effect unless the Security Council "expressly decides otherwise after conducting an evaluation."
The council's evaluation of the negotiations would be made "on the basis of a report by the secretary-general or his representatives," the draft says.
The draft also asks that "the parties refrain from making any unilateral declarations regarding final status" during the period of negotiations.
U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said that the 120-day delay "is designed to allow for continuing negotiations, something that several members of the council believed would be useful."
Wolff said that in presenting the new draft, the United Kingdom and France underscored "the importance of the implementation of the Ahtisaari plan and the expectation that this would result in Kosovo's independence."
"There is an expectation among many that the ideal solution would be agreement between the parties. This [delay] allows a little more time to see if that's possible. It may not be possible and the resolution allows for immediate steps after the period of negotiation to implement to Ahtisaari provisions," the U.S. ambassador told journalists after the meeting.
He said that after consultations with all 15 council members, the co-sponsors will decide when to call for a vote.
A 1999 Security Council resolution (Resolution 1244) placed the Serbian province of Kosovo under U.N. administration and set out a political process to determine Kosovo's final status. It gave the council the responsibility of determining a settlement. Following months of exhaustive negotiations with Serbian and Kosovo officials, Ahtisaari concluded that independence was the only option to ensure Kosovo's political and economic stability.
Under Ahtisaari's plan, which was submitted in April, Kosovo would be a multiethnic society with the language, education and cultural aspects of all communities protected and promoted; the Serbian Orthodox Church would be safeguarded. The NATO-led Kosovo force would continue to provide security and an international civilian representative would oversee the settlement.
The United States and many European nations say that open-ended negotiations and further delay in arriving at a long-promised settlement would cause only more instability.
Russia, which has veto power in the council, has called the new draft resolution unacceptable.
United Kingdom Ambassador Karen Pierce urged Russia to work with the co-sponsors on the draft. "We much prefer to stay within the Security Council. There have been 115 resolutions on the Balkans since the former Yugoslavia disintegrated," Pierce said. "It strikes us as right that the last piece, as it were ... should be dealt with by the council."
Pierce said that the co-sponsors expect the negotiation period to be "used wisely and not to press for unrealistic ambitions. We look to [Serbia], in particular, if we do go ahead with a further round of negotiations, to come forward with realistic proposals."
"It is fair to say that one way or another Kosovo independence is going to be inevitable," she said. "It is much better that that is reached through a managed process with proper and adequate guarantees for the Kosovo Serbs and other minorities in Kosovo. We believe that the Ahtisaari provisions provide for that."
A transcript of Wolff’s remarks is available on the U.S. Mission to the United Nations Web site.
For more information on U.S. policies in the region, see Southeast Europe.

Russia rejects plan paving way for independent Kosovo

By Evelyn Leopold, Reuters June 21, 2007

UNITED NATIONS -- Russia rejected as unacceptable yesterday a new UN Security Council resolution drafted by Europeans and the United States that paves the way to independence for Kosovo in four months.
The document, obtained by Reuters, asks for negotiations for another 120 days. But if the talks fail, the resolution would automatically put into effect an independence plan drawn up by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari "unless the Security Council expressly decides otherwise after conducting an evaluation."
Russia, which has veto power on the 15-nation Security Council, still opposes independence for Kosovo, a Serbian province of 2 million people dominated by ethnic Albanians, unless its allies in Belgrade agree.
"It is unacceptable," Moscow's UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said of the draft introduced by Britain and France.
He told reporters that the sponsors now agreed with Russia that more negotiations were necessary. "However, I am afraid that does not really bring us closer," because after four months "Mr. Ahtisaari's proposal will go into force."
Kosovo, seen by Serbia as a cradle of its culture, passed out of Belgrade's control in 1999 when NATO bombing drove out Serb forces who had killed 10,000 ethnic Albanian civilians in a two-year war with guerrillas.
The province has been under UN administration for almost eight years. If Russia refuses to agree to the plan, the West has to decide whether to go ahead.
Britain's deputy ambassador, Karen Pierce, made clear that was an option. "I think it's fair to say that one way or another, Kosovo independence is going to be inevitable," she said.
The draft never uses the word "independence" but points to various provisions in the Ahtisaari plan that pave the way for a break with Serbia.
Russia has argued that having the United Nations split Kosovo from Serbia sets a dangerous precedent that could apply to other regions, such as the breakaway Georgian province of Abkhazia. But Western leaders say Kosovo is an exception because of the 1990s Balkan wars that led to the breakup of Yugoslavia.

UPDATE: Serbia Praises Russia's Rejection Of UN Kosovo Plan
(This updates an item published at 1129 GMT, with comments, details.)

BELGRADE (AP)--Serbia on Thursday welcomed Russia's rejection of a revised U.N. resolution that it said would only delay internationally supervised independence for its breakaway Kosovo province.
The new text, introduced in the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday and drafted by European Union nations and the United States, would give Serbs and independence-seeking Kosovo Albanians four more months to reach an agreement over the disputed region.
It states that the resolution's provisions, which lead to full independence, would take effect after 120 days "unless the Security Council expressly decides otherwise after conducting an evaluation."
Veto-wielding Russia and its traditional ally Serbia immediately rejected the revised plan, saying it would only postpone and not abolish the proposed independence for Kosovo.
Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica issued a statement urging the U.S. and E.U. countries to withdraw the draft resolution. Kostunica said that "it is clear that, thanks to the Russian principal stand, a resolution which violates basic rules of the international law, cannot pass."
"No resolution is necessary for the relaunching of the negotiating process, only good will (is needed) to sit down and seek a compromise through dialogue," Kostunica added.
Earlier, other Serbian officials said that the new draft wouldn't lead to " real" negotiations as Kosovo Albanians would not have an incentive to accept anything else but the promised independence for their province.
"We highly appreciate Russia's stand on the new resolution," Serbia's Vice Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said. "We are ready for new negotiations. But, the serious negotiations were not the idea in this resolution."
Serbia's government minister for Kosovo, Slobodan Samardzic, said no new U.N. resolution was needed for reopening talks with rival Kosovo Albanians, " especially not the proposal that gives a time frame and prejudges the result of the negotiations."

EU warns Kosovo against declaring independence

By Matt RobinsonThu Jun 21, 7:53 PM ET

The European Union warned Kosovo on Thursday against an "irresponsible" declaration of independence after Russia again rejected a Western-backed United Nations resolution that would effectively grant the move.
EU Kosovo envoy Stefan Lehne said it "would be a huge step backwards" if Kosovo Albanian leaders were to take the issue into their own hands.
"Unilateral action or other irresponsible behavior in Kosovo would take away all the goodwill that you have received," he told reporters after meeting the ethnic Albanian president of Serbia's breakaway southern province, Farmer Sadie.
"It will not help you overcome the remaining obstacles but build many, many more," Lehne said.
EU foreign ministers discussed the deadlock with Russia at a summit in Brussels and stuck to the EU line that the West should continue efforts to get a U.N. Security Council resolution.
"We are trying to avoid a veto. We are sticking to our position that we need a (U.N. Security Council) resolution," said Luxembourg Foreign minister Jean Asselborn after the talks.
Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said: "More or less most of us believe that more time is needed. We should take it and give the negotiations a chance."
Public pressure is building on the leaders of Kosovo's 90-percent Albanian majority to declare independence. Diplomatic stalemate between the West and Russia has blocked a U.N. plan that would lead to statehood, eight years after NATO drove out Serb forces and the United Nations took control.
Russia on Wednesday declared "unacceptable" the West's third draft of a resolution for the U.N. Security Council, which called for a further 120 days of Serb-Albanian talks.
This would be on top of 13 months of negotiations that ended in March with no compromise whatever on the central issue -- Serbia's total opposition to the Albanians' bottom-line demand.
The latest draft proposed that if there was still no deal, the plan by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari for EU-supervised independence would take effect.
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica called for the resolution to be withdrawn. Serbia is ready for talks, he said in a statement, but without conditions.
"A new resolution is not needed to restart talks, only the good will to sit at the table and search for compromise."
Russia's rejection increased pressure on Kosovo's main supporters, the United States and the EU, to consider backing a unilateral declaration of independence or risk potentially serious unrest among Kosovo's two million Albanians.
Security is in the hands of 16,000 NATO soldiers.
Washington has indicated it would support such a step, but the 27-member EU fears its fragile unity on the issue would crumble and it would not have a legal basis to take over supervision of Kosovo from the eight-year-old U.N. mission.
(Additional reporting by Ljiljana Cvekic in Belgrade and David Brunnstrom and Mark John in Brussels)

Roundup: NATO defense ministers meet to discuss missile defense, Kosovo issue

The defense ministers from 26 NATO allies met in Brussels Thursday to discuss primarily missile defense and the alliance's role in Kosovo and Afghanistan.
The ministers are expected to agree to look seriously into the implications of the U.S. proposal to base interceptor missiles and a radar station in Poland and the Czech Republic.
"On missile defence we're hoping that they will take a specific decision so that future work on a possible future NATO missile defense system will take into account the implications of the U.S. proposals to base interceptors in Poland and radars in the Czech Republic," NATO Assistant Secretary General John Colston told reporters before the meeting.
"It's quite possible that the United States' capability could be one complementary element of our approach to missile defense in the future. This would not bring the U.S. system under NATO control, but it recognizing that the United States' system would be likely to provide a very substantial degree of coverage of the European continent, and therefore it does make sense for us to examine the U.S. system alongside possible potential future NATO elements," he added.
But he cautioned that no decision is to be made immediately on whether NATO will pursue its own strategic missile defense system.
"But let me say no decision is being taken now and no decision is expected in the near future on whether or not NATO would want to proceed with its own missile defense system. That is a decision for the future."
The U.S. has said that its defense system's deployment in Eastern Europe will cover most of Europe from ballistic missile attacks. But Turkey and parts of Romania, Bulgaria and Greece will not be covered as those areas are too close to the potential sources of missile attack.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Thursday stressed the indivisibility of the security of allies, which means all allies must have the same protection.
"NATO's approach (to missile defense) is based on the principles of the indivisibility of allied security and transparency with our partners, of course including Russia," de Hoop Scheffer said in opening remarks on Thursday.
The NATO defense ministers will also have an opportunity to debate the U.S. plan with Russia's new Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.
Russia is strongly opposed to the U.S. plan.
Colston refused to comment on Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent proposal to have a joint radar site located in Azerbaijan, saying it is far too early for technical evaluation.
But he welcomed the fact that Russia seems to be moving on "from the rhetoric of confrontation to the rhetoric of cooperation."
The defense ministers are also expected to emphasize the alliance's commitment to Kosovo. NATO has a 16,000-strong force in the Serbian province.
Colston said the alliance is still hopeful that the UN Security Council can reach a resolution on Kosovo's status.
"As to speculation about what would happen if a Security Council resolution was not reached, let me first of all say there is as yet no Russian veto. We've all heard the words that have come from some Russian leaders, but there is no Russian veto as yet and we're continuing to work and will continue to work over the coming days and weeks to see if we can reach a negotiated settlement," he said.
He said the alliance is closely watching the situation in Kosovo and is prepared for all eventualities.
"Everyone in Kosovo needs to be aware of NATO's determination to maintain security in Kosovo and that we will not tolerate threats from whatever quarter to such security," he added.
"We are therefore determined to maintain our mission; to maintain it effectively; and to ensure that the security of Kosovo is maintained for the benefit of all its inhabitants until such time as we hope we can transition to a new status under a new resolution in providing the international military presence in Kosovo," Colston said.
On Afghanistan, the ministers are expected to look into ways to ensure that the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force will have the capacity and flexibility to carry out its tasks. They will also discuss ways to reduce civilian casualties in clashes with the Taliban.
The ministers will also discuss NATO's rapid reaction force and hold consultations with NATO's partners.
Source: Xinhua

G-8 fails to agree on Kosovo's future

By Judy Dempsey IHT

Friday, June 8, 2007
HEILIGENDAMM, Germany: Leaders of the Group of 8 leading industrial countries failed Friday to agree on the future status of Kosovo after Russia rejected a proposal unexpectedly presented by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France.

Sarkozy, attending his first G-8 summit meeting since becoming president last month, surprised Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and the leaders of Britain, Canada, Italy, Russia, Japan and the United States when he called for a delay in granting Kosovo independence from Serbia.

Diplomats said Sarkozy had not informed Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief, about his plan, even though the EU will play the major role in supervising Kosovo's independence.

Speaking at the end of the three-day meeting, where she had won wide admiration for her skillful diplomacy, Merkel had to concede that there were "still differences of opinion" after diplomats spent hours trying to reach a compromise on Kosovo. "Time is pressing. We have to find a solution. We would like to reach a consensus," Merkel said.

Sarkozy proposed that a new United Nations Security Council resolution aimed at paving the way for the province's independence be delayed for six months to allow fresh negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo. If no deal agreement emerged, the UN plan would be applied, he said.

"For the time being, the necessary progress has not been made," Sarkozy said Friday after talks with President George W. Bush.

Apart from Merkel, the other G-8 leaders did not comment on Sarkozy's plan. But diplomats said there was some skepticism, particularly from the United States, over any delay. Merkel said senior diplomats involved in the UN plan for Kosovo would meet next week.

The province has been under a UN protectorate since 1999, when NATO bombed Serbia to stop the killings of the ethnic Albanians who make up more than 90 percent of the province's two million inhabitants.

A plan presented last January by Martti Ahtisaari, the UN special envoy, authorizes EU supervision of Kosovo for at least two years during the transition to independence. In the meantime, the EU would establish strong institutions to protect the small Serb community in the province.

Russia, a member of the Security Council, has repeatedly opposed granting the province independence and has threatened to veto any resolution unless Serbia and Kosovo resume negotiations over the future of the province. Sarkozy said he feared a division in the Security Council would divide the international community and risk the lives of NATO forces who have been in the province since 1999.

Putin said later at a news conference that there had been no change in Russia's position.

"The issue was respecting the territorial integrity of Serbia," he said. And, in a warning to other UN Security Council members about rushing into granting the province independence, he said it could be a precedent for other independence movements, such as Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia.

Serbia's leadership rejected the Ahtisaari plan, but the ethnic Albanians have overwhelming accepted it. All political parties in the province agreed to forego violence to push their claims for independence after pledges by the United States that it could propose a new Security Council resolution that would end Kosovo's protectorate and allow the province to move toward independence.

EU diplomats Friday said they feared that any delays could trigger new violence.

The Kosovo prime minister, Agim Ceku, appealed to the UN Security Council members to "adopt a resolution as soon as possible or to let us take our own path."

"We can't wait anymore. Every day of delay means an increase in frustration and a loss of legitimacy," said Ceku, who has warned that Kosovo would declare independence unilaterally if thwarted by Russia.

President Fatmir Sejdiu called on Western governments to reaffirm their support to Ahtisaari plan

"It is important to for us to continue the dynamic in the Security Council to approve a new resolution," Sejdiu said in Pristina.

The European Union, meanwhile, has been making elaborate preparations to supervise the province's independence by sending hundreds of police officers and judicial experts to establish the rule of law and strong judicial institutions.

Nicholas Wood contributed reporting from Pristina.

Russia rebuffs West over Kosovo
By Gabriel Partos BBC South-East Europe analyst

As the crunch time for resolving Kosovo's long-term status approaches, the war of words between Russia and the Western powers on the future of Serbia's independence-seeking province shows no sign of abating. Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, on Thursday dismissed a revised UN resolution on Kosovo's future, presented by Britain and backed by the EU and US.
The amendments had "not changed anything as far as we are concerned," he said.
He again hinted that Russia could veto the resolution, telling a reporter: "I don't like this word (veto) until I receive final instructions, but you are guessing well what is in my mind".
The new draft resolution supports a plan drawn up by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari for internationally-supervised independence for Kosovo. Currently the UN-administered province remains legally part of Serbia.
Attempts to bridge the gap on the draft resolution failed to make headway during talks that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held in Moscow in mid-May.
Russia's publicly stated position is that a solution needs the approval of both parties - the Kosovo Albanians and the Serbs.
Diplomatic manoeuvres
Since Serbia has rejected the Ahtisaari recommendations out of hand, that would imply that Russia might use its veto, as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, to scupper the proposed supervised independence for Kosovo.
The United States and - more reluctantly - the EU have backed the Ahtisaari plan as the best one possible, in the absence of an agreement between Belgrade and Kosovo's overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian community. No such deal emerged from a year-long series of talks Mr Ahtisaari chaired in Vienna until March.
Russia's most senior officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, have tended to avoid using the term "veto", while hinting at its possible use.
That has been viewed as an attempt on the Kremlin's part to keep its options open.
However, in recent months - particularly since the emergence of the Ahtisaari proposals - Russia has adopted a firmer position in arguing for a settlement reached by consensus.
It has made fewer attempts to establish an analogy between Kosovo and the pro-Russian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia. Last year President Vladimir Putin sought to highlight such a link, implying that if Kosovo gained independence, then so should these territories.
Russian withdrawal
Russia's opposition to the West over Kosovo does not appear to be motivated by a history of friendship with Serbia on grounds of a shared Slavic cultural background and Orthodox Christian heritage.
After all, Russia pulled its peacekeepers out of Kosovo in 2003, despite the fact that the Serb minority there were complaining, as they still are, of being the victims of harassment and discrimination at the hands of the ethnic Albanian majority. Russia's early departure from Kosovo, justified on grounds of cost-cutting, was viewed by many Kosovar Serbs as leaving them in the lurch.
The withdrawal from Kosovo four years ago was also in stark contrast with the unannounced arrival of Russian peacekeepers there back in 1999.
The Russian dash to Pristina airport nearly produced a confrontation with the main body of the peacekeeping contingent under Nato's command which the Russian troops eventually joined, as originally agreed.
Russia's conduct both in 1999 and today appears to be motivated by a determination to show the West, and the US in particular, that it should be taken seriously - as one of the key players on the international stage.
The circumstances now are very different, though.
Kremlin confidence
Thanks to its oil wealth in an era of high energy prices, Russia believes it has regained its former status as a great power, which it lost during the economic collapse in the immediate post-communist era.
When it comes to the dipomatic battle of wills over Kosovo, that factor probably accounts for much more than Russia's sympathy for the Serbs - although support for fellow-Orthodox Serbs has a populist appeal to some sections of Russian society. The Kremlin might still decide to abstain in a vote - an option made easier by the fact that the text of the UN resolution, like the main section of Mr Ahtisaari's blueprint, does not include an explicit reference to "independence".
Western diplomats also note that, until very recently, Russia played what they describe as a generally "constructive" role as a member - along with the US, Britain, France, Germany and Italy - of the six-nation Contact Group that has been spearheading the UN's drive to settle Kosovo's status.
However, before the Kremlin reconsiders its stance it may be looking for some concessions, both on Kosovo and other issues.
In the case of Kosovo, these could include a moratorium on the territory's membership of the UN and other international bodies once it becomes independent.
Elsewhere, Moscow may be angling for an undertaking from Nato not to continue its enlargement into former Soviet republics by inviting Georgia, and possibly Ukraine, to join the alliance.
Meanwhile, Washington has also signalled its readiness to bypass Russia, if necessary, by stating that it will recognise Kosovo's independence, even if there is no UN Security Council resolution in place to endorse it.
Russia may want to avoid a confrontation of that kind, and it has repeatedly tried to put off the moment of decision by calling for more talks.
But the US and key Western countries believe the time for further delays has passed.
They are concerned about a build-up of frustration among Kosovo's Albanian majority - and unlike Russia, they have peacekeepers on the ground who may become the targets of possible violence.
The last chance for a deal may now be just a few days away - at the G8 summit of leading industrial nations in Germany on 6-8 June.
If Russia stands by Serbia, Kosovo's assembly will almost certainly vote for a unilateral declaration of independence.
That would be a scenario for diplomatic upheaval and chaotic developments on the ground, which would present further challenges not only to the West but Russia as well.

Russia rejects U.N. resolution on Kosovo
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press WriterThu May 31, 7:50 PM ET

The United States and European nations introduced a revised U.N. resolution Thursday supporting independence for Kosovo under international supervision, but it was immediately rejected by Russia — who hinted it would veto the measure.
The new draft included several minor changes that sought to address Russia's concerns about ensuring that Kosovo's multiethnic character is preserved. But it did not include Russia's main proposal for new negotiations between the province's majority ethnic Albanians, who are demanding independence, and its minority Serbs, who want to remain part of Serbia.
"The introduction of this updated version of the draft has not changed anything as far as we are concerned," Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said. "We should think in terms of continued effort to find a mutually acceptable solution to the future of Kosovo."
He cited an "important letter" from Serbia's Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asking the U.N. chief to set up new negotiations on Kosovo's status. Jeremic said the main objective is "to reach a compromise solution" to guarantee Kosovo's long-term stability — but he also reiterated Serbia's opposition to Kosovo's independence.
The resolution's supporters said they want swift action on the resolution, which would end U.N. administration of Kosovo in 120 days and have the European Union take over the province's supervised transition to independence. NATO-led troops would remain to help ensure security and an international civilian representative would oversee the transition.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, the current Security Council president, said council experts would meet Friday to discuss the new draft. Churkin said he might send a representative to listen, but said Russia would not discuss a draft that did not address its concerns.
Khalilzad said the U.S. would like a Security Council vote on the resolution by next week. Asked what Russia will do if the new draft resolution is pushed to a vote, Churkin said, "Under those circumstances, unfortunately, the outcome would be obvious."
When asked if that meant he would veto the resolution, he replied: "I don't like this word until I receive final instructions, but you're guessing well what is in my mind."
While Kosovo remains a province of Serbia, it 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.
Last month, U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari recommended that Kosovo be granted internationally supervised independence — a proposal welcomed by its ethnic Albanian majority, who comprise 90 percent of the province's 2 million people, but vehemently rejected by its Serb minority. Russia's opposition to the proposal is linked to its strong cultural and religious ties to the Serbs.
The new draft resolution, which is backed by the U.S. and the European Union's Security Council members — France, Britain, Slovakia, Belgium and Italy — would be under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter which deals with threats to peace and security and can be militarily enforced.