UN FAILS TO BREAK KOSOVO IMPASSE
BBC
KarabakhOpen
20-12-2007 10:37:58
The US and EU have said the potential for further negotiations over
the future of Kosovo has been exhausted.
In a statement after talks at the UN Security Council failed to break
the impasse, they said the EU would take the lead in implementing
a settlement.
Backed by the US and EU members, the Kosovo Albanians are expected
to declare independence from Serbia.
Serbia, and its ally in the council, Russia, said that such a move
would be illegal and urged further negotiations.
Last week, the EU said it was prepared to send 1,800 police officers
and administrators to Kosovo.
Legal dispute looms
Following a closed debate described as tense, in which the Security
Council heard from the Serbian prime minister and Kosovo’s president,
representatives from the US and EU stood together and said the two
sides were irreconcilable.
"It’s clear in our view that more negotiations in this or any
other format will not make a difference," said Belgium’s permanent
representative, Johan Verbeke.
Planning Kosovo’s future
"We therefore endorse the view of the European Union and US negotiators
that the potential for a negotiated solution is now exhausted."
The statement said the EU stood "ready to play a leading role in
implementing a settlement defining Kosovo’s future status".
In April, UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari put forward a plan offering
Kosovo "supervised independence".
Under the proposal, international agencies would gradually steer
Kosovo towards full independence and membership of the UN. But they
would also prevent it from merging with Albania, or having its Serb
areas split off to become part of Serbia.
Both the US and UK representatives said Security Council resolution
1244, which was passed after Nato threw Serbia out of Kosovo in 1999,
allowed for the implementation of Mr Ahtisaari’s plan.
"We would have preferred to do that through the Security Council, but
we are entirely confident that resolution 1244 provides a sufficient
legal base to move forward to a final settlement and to establish the
necessary authorities needed to achieve that," said the UK’s envoy,
Sir John Sawers.
‘Null and void’
But the joint US-EU statement drew a sharp reaction from Russia.
Its representative at the UN, Vitaly Churkin, insisted there was
still "ample ground" for negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina
to continue.
"Any move towards unilateral independence would clearly be outside
the limits of international law and outside the limits of resolution
1244," he told reporters after the meeting.
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said his country would
declare "all unilateral acts of Albanian separatists null and void"
– Kosovo would remain and integral and inalienable part of Serbia
forever.
The BBC’s Laura Trevelyan in New York says Western diplomats expect
Kosovo to declare its intention to become independent early next year
and for the EU to take up the issue once Serbian elections have taken
place in February.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
