UN envoy Ahtisaari opposes time limit for Kosovo talks

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Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, the newly-appointed special representative of the United Nations for talks on the future of Kosovo, does not want to set a time limit for the talks.
      "It is impossible to say how long this will take - and it would be completely irresponsible, as I have not yet been in touch with the parties involved", Ahtisaari said in Helsinki on Friday.
      He was speaking at a press conference in Helsinki convened after his appointment had been officially confirmed by the UN Security Council on Thursday.
     
Ahtisaari will move to Vienna for the post. He will make a two-week tour of Kosovo and Serbia later this month. During the trip he will also visit the capitals of Albania, Macedonia, and Montenegro.
      Ahtisaari, who has extensive experience as a peace mediator, compared his Kosovo challenge with his previous missions by noting that it is "certainly not any easier than the previous ones". However, he did not want to overemphasise the difficulties of the task.
      Ahtisaari described himself as a "born optimist". He also said that another factor drawing him back to Kosovo was his "Protestant ethics"; he felt that he still has unfinished business in the region.
      In 1999, during NATO’s air campaign against Serbia, Ahtisaari persuaded President Slobodan Milosevic to pull Serb forces out of Kosovo.
      He also said that it would be "irresponsible" of him to speculate on the result of the negotiations, emphasising that the schedule, and the result, depend on the parties to the discussions.
     
The process leading to Ahtisaari’s appointment took longer than expected. The Security Council added an appendix to the letter of confirmation, in which the "contact group" of six countries gave recommendations for the mandate of the special envoy.
      Ahtisaari said that he felt that his mandate was flexible enough, and that he was satisfied with it.
      As his deputy in the talks, Ahtisaari will have Albert Rohan, an Austrian, and he might also get a number of other temporary substitutes. In addition, he will maintain contact with envoys named by the European Union, Russia, and the United States.
     
There will be more analysis of Ahtisaari's new mission in our weekly feature articles on Tuesday.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  UN Security Council confirms Ahtisaari appointment to Kosovo post (11.11.2005)

Helsingin Sanomat