MOSCOW REJECTS NEW DRAFT RESOLUTION ON KOSOVO STATUS

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.06.2007 13:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russia says a new draft UN resolution supporting a
plan for supervised independence for Kosovo is unacceptable and has
hinted it could be vetoed.

The new text softens some of the original language and also proposes
a new special envoy to help refugees who have left Kosovo, many of
them Serbs. But the Russian representative at the UN, Vitaly Churkin,
said that the concessions changed nothing.

Kosovo has been administered by the UN since 1999, but remains part
of Serbia.

The UN took over control of the territory following a NATO bombing
campaign in 1999 targeting Serb forces.

NATO intervened to halt a violent crackdown by Serbia against ethnic
Albanians in Kosovo, some of whom had taken up arms.

At the end of March, the UN special envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari,
unveiled a blueprint that would give Kosovo internationally supervised
independence for an initial period. At the same time, the proposals
envisage extensive self-government for Kosovo’s Serb-inhabited
municipalities and continuing links between them and Belgrade.

Serbia has rejected the UN plan, but it has been broadly accepted by
Kosovo Albanians.

Russia, a traditional ally of Serbia, has threatened to veto any
UN Security Council resolutions supporting the plan unless Belgrade
agrees to it.

The latest draft resolution introduced by the UK therefore made
concessions to Russia.

The revised draft "supports" rather than "endorses" the provisions
of Mr Ahtisaari’s plan for supervised independence for Kosovo, and
"calls for its full implementation". The new text also "demands" rather
than "underscores the importance" that Kosovo comply in full with
obligations to implement UN-specified democratic standards. Finally,
there is a call for a special envoy to help refugees, many of them
Serbs, who left Kosovo after the fighting eight years ago.

But Mr Churkin dismissed the changes, saying Moscow wanted more
negotiations to see if the ethnic Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo can
reach agreement.

"The introduction of this updated version of the draft has not changed
anything as far as we are concerned," he told reporters. "We should
think in terms of continued effort to find a mutually acceptable
solution to the future of Kosovo." 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 U.S. and Europeans, who support Mr Ahtisaari’s plan for Kosovo,
would like a vote to take place next week. But other diplomats think
the vote is unlikely to happen before the G8 meeting of world leaders
in Germany on 6-8 June.

Ahtisaari’s plan does not explicitly recommend independence, but
sets out the framework of a Kosovo state, including provisions for
an international overseer and autonomy for the 100,000 Serbs.

Kosovo Albanians demand full independence, eight years after 10,000
died and almost 1 million were expelled in a two-year Serbian
counterinsurgency war. Serbia says broad autonomy is the most it
can offer.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said it was up to Russia to present
"constructive ideas and suggestions" to amend the resolution, but
that Kosovo’s independence was inevitable. Asked when a vote might
be called, Khalilzad said, "Our preference would be for this to take
place next week," BBC reports.