Serbian President meets Ahtisaari, proposes division of Kosovo

Albanians and hard-line Serbs reject Tadic proposal

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Serbia’s President proposed on Thursday that the province of Kosovo should be divided. At his meeting with United Nations envoy, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, President Boris Tadic proposed a division of Kosovo along ethnic lines. He also insisted that Kosovo must remain a part of Serbia. Under his model, the province’s Albanian majority would get de facto independence.
      Tadic first put forward his proposal during a recent visit to Russia. Albanian leaders have rejected the idea, saying that they would accept nothing less than full independence.
     
Also criticising the proposal were Serb nationalists, who demanded that Tadic be prosecuted for planning to hand over "sovereign Serb territory" to the Albanians.
      The European Union and the United States oppose both full independence for Kosovo, as well as the restoration of the province to Serb rule. The province has been administered by the United Nations ever since the war in 1999.
     
The Serbian government named a group of negotiators on Thursday, led by Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, President Tadic, and Vuk Draskovic, the Foreign Minister of Serbia and Montenegro.
      Ahtisaari held separate discussions with Kostunica and Draskovic on Thursday. The Serbs stuck to their opposition of independence for Kosovo. Ahtisaari had no immediate comment on the situation.
      United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan named Ahtisaari to mediate in negotiations on Kosovo. Ahtisaari said on Wednesday in Kosovo that achieving a negotiated settlement will depend on the readiness of the two sides to agree.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  UN special envoy Ahtisaari begins Kosovo mission (22.11.2005)
  UN envoy Ahtisaari opposes time limit for Kosovo talks (14.11.2005)
  UN Security Council confirms Ahtisaari appointment to Kosovo post (11.11.2005)

Helsingin Sanomat