No deal on Kosovo ahead of a UN deadline on 10 December
armradio.am
08.12.2007 11:35
Mediators in talks between Kosovo and Serbia have concluded that no
agreement can be reached on Kosovo’s final status ahead of a UN
deadline on 10 December, the BBC reports. The troika of the EU, US and
Russia spent 120 days trying to broker a deal.
Kosovo is still a province of Serbia, but ethnic Albanian leaders there
have threatened to declare independence unilaterally after the deadline
lapses. NATO – fearing a violent Serb reaction – has said it will keep
16,000 troops in Kosovo to deter any clashes.
Kosovo’s independence ambitions have the broad backing of the US and
several EU nations. Foreign Ministers from Britain, Germany, France and
Italy have written to their counterparts in fellow EU member states
saying that the time for negotiation is over, and that the EU must
honour its responsibilities to Kosovo.