After a year of turmoil, talks on the status of Kosovo have
ended bitterly as a major divide surrounds a UN plan that would see
the Serbian province become independent.
Serbia's nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica called
the situation potentially "the most dangerous precedent in the
history of the UN" should the Security Council ratify the plan.
Kostunica forewarned that the blueprint, giving Kosovo
supervised nation status with the rights to its own army, flag and
constitution, could create a global snowball effect, according
other regions around the world legitimacy to break away. Serbian
President Boris Tadic also denounced the idea as "unbearable."
However, Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu reiterated that his
ethnic Albanian majority views eventual independence as a de facto
right and the only acceptable outcome.
"Independence is the alpha and omega, the beginning and end of
our position," Sejdiu said on Saturday, adding that ethnic
Albanians "look forward to one day joining the family of free
nations."
UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari conceded defeat following the
collapse of last-ditch efforts which aimed to find common ground to
build upon.
"No amount of additional negotiations will change that," an
exasperated Ahtisaari told reporters, adding: "I firmly believe
that the potential of negotiations is exhausted."
The former Finnish president announced that he would present the
package to the Security Council by the end of the month. Yet,
another furore could be sparked there. Despite support for the
cause of Kosovo independence by the United States and the European
Union, it has met with a frosty reaction from Russia, a long-term
Serbian ally which holds veto power.
A UN protectorate since 1999, when NATO air-strikes on Belgrade
put an end to Serbian abuses against ethnic Albanians in the
southern province, Kosovo remains the last major dispute following
Yugoslavia's shattering.
Although Serbian ultranationalists have sworn to rise up should
Kosovo gain independence, Tadic has stated that, in any case, his
government "has refrained so far, and will refrain in the future,
from the use of force."
Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku sought to temper disappointment
among some ethnic Albanians that the plan did not include full and
immediate statehood.
"This proposal will surely lead to Kosovo's independence," he
said, further calling for a rapid Security Council resolution
removing Serbia's sovereignty over the province.
Sejdiu, however, did admit that Kosovo's leaders had agreed to
"very painful compromises" in giving the shrinking Serbian minority
self-governing rights.
(China Daily March 13, 2007)
