Mediator Martti Ahtisaari's efforts receive full support from West in Kosovo talks

Contact Group demands resolution this year, Serbia opposes

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Pressure is mounting on leaders of Serbia and the province of Kosovo to draw up a treaty on the final status of Kosovo by the end of the year.
      A statement of the so-called Contact Group expresses "deep appreciation" for the work of the UN Special Envoy, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, whose efforts to mediate between the two sides over the final status of the region have come up against problems - particularly owing to a negative attitude on the part of Serbia.
      The group, comprising the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Russia, denounced Serbia’s resistant attitude, saying that is keeping Kosovo’s minority Serbs out of the administrative bodies of the province.
     
The group gave Ahtisaari extensive authority to seek a solution on the status of Kosovo. According to the group, neither side can unilaterally overturn the arrangements, which are to be put to the UN Security Council for a decision.
      According to news agency reports, the Kosovo government had "praised" the Contact Group. Serbia says that it trusts that Russia will veto any attempts to "steal" Kosovo.
      Serb Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who has been seen as a moderate nationalist, says that Serbia cannot, and Russia must not accept the unilateral alteration of a sovereign state.
      Olli Rehn, the European Commissioner for Enlargement, told Helsingin Sanomat that the year-end deadline must be adhered to. He said that he expects that Ahtisaari’s proposal for Kosovo’s status will come in October or November.
      "If there is no deadline, things tend to become more complicated. Seven years have passed since the war in Kosovo. It is high time to resolve this issue", Rehn said in New York on Thursday.
      Rehn was taking part in a meeting the previous night, in which Ahtisaari put forward his views to the Contact Group, the EU, NATO, and the UN on how the Kosovo process has been making progress. Ahtisaari did not want to comment on the situation before meeting with the Security Council today, Friday.
      Ahtisaari is expected to propose independence for Kosovo, which Serbia staunchly opposes. Some suggest that independence for Kosovo could boost support for radical groups in Serbia’s elections next year.
     
Rehn would not give an opinion on what solution would be best for Kosovo, but saw the increase in nationalism to be a threat. He said that history has shown that one must "always be concerned", about the maintenance of stability in the Balkan region.
      In the previous week Ahtisaari expressed frustration with Serbia’s attitude. According to Rehn, the EU will not begin negotiations with Serbia on membership before the country shows that it is serious about apprehending suspected war criminals from the Bosnian war. Rehn described the situation in Kosovo as a miserable interim phase during which the area has taken on the character of a ghetto, with its high unemployment figures and a bad crime problem.
      Some experts say that the government of Serbia knows that it needs to let go of Kosovo, where 90 percent of the population are ethnic Albanians and the rest are Serbs.
      The Contact Group says that the sides must reach a "realistic" final solution, which "maintains the multiethnic character" of Kosovo.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Former President Ahtisaari rejects Serb criticism of Kosovo talks (13.4.2006)
  Serbian President meets Ahtisaari, proposes division of Kosovo (25.11.2006)
  UN special envoy Ahtisaari begins Kosovo mission (22.11.2005)
  UN Security Council confirms Ahtisaari appointment to Kosovo post (11.11.2005)
  Kofi Annan appoints President Ahtisaari to lead Kosovo talks (2.11.2005)

Helsingin Sanomat