Kosovo talks begin in Vienna "perhaps even more successfully than expected"

Ahtisaari to visit Belgrade and Pristina next week

print this

The first round of direct negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo over the future of Kosovo in Vienna went "perhaps even more successfully than expected", reported the former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan last November to head the talks.
      Nevertheless, the only concrete result of the negotiations which took place in Vienna on Monday and Tuesday was that the next formal meeting of the two parties is to be held on March 17th.
     
The talks between the delegations of Serbia and Kosovo could be characterised as rather matter-of-fact, even though the delegates were free to talk about issues that are close to their heart, reported Ahtisaari.
      While describing the negotiations as "useful", the Serbian delegate and President Boris Tadic's advisor Leon Kojen stressed that there was still complete disagreement between the parties on the future status of Kosovo, with its ethnic-Albanian majority.
      Kosovo's Albanians are calling for full independence for the province, whereas the Serbs are totally against this idea.
      Kojen, in turn, offered Kosovo a wide degree of autonomy at a press conference in Vienna on Tuesday.
     
The first round of talks did not deal with Kosovo's judicial status. Instead, the aim was to discuss the decentralisation of administration and practical issues including the health care and educational systems, the organising of the judicial system and the police force, among others.
      Once the practical issues have been dealt with, the parties are more likely to agree upon the question of the actual status of Kosovo, Ahtisaari noted in Vienna.
      As the first round of the negotiations focused on rather technical issues, it was led by Ahtisaari's number two man, Austrian diplomat Albert Rohan.
      "We will implement the decentralisation of administration on the first day of independence", concluded the head of the Albanian delegation Lutfi Haziri in Vienna. "Tomorrow, if possible".
     
Even the Contact Group, which comprises the USA, Russia, Great Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, has implied that the negotiations are likely to lead to Kosovo's independence. The six-nation Contact Group is following closely the progress of the Kosovo talks.
      On the other hand, it could be said that the final status of Kosovo is not the main issue. More important is to define the position of the Serbian minority in an independent Kosovo.
      The six-nation Contact Group expects the negotiations over the status of Kosovo to lead to a decision by the end of the current year. Moreover, the group feels that the decision has to be agreeable to all Kosovo people.
     
Ahtisaari will visit both the Serbian capital Belgrade and Kosovo's Pristina next week. Even the next round of talks is to focus more on technical than political issues.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  The Negotiator (21.2.2006)
  Kosovo talks between Serbs and Albanians to start in Vienna (20.2.2006)

Helsingin Sanomat