Post by Fender on Jan 25, 2008 22:47:41 GMT -5
U.N. secretary-general still hesitant over giving blessing to EU policing mission in Kosovo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
2:19 p.m. January 25, 2008
BRDO PRI KRANJU, Slovenia – U.N. Secretary-General Ban-Ki moon said Friday he could not yet give his blessing to a planned 1,800-strong European Union mission for Kosovo because of the international dispute over the future of the breakaway Serbian province.
The EU wants to send a policing and administrative mission to Kosovo to replace the current U.N. force, which took control alongside NATO peacekeepers in 1999 after war ended between Serbian troops and separatist ethnic Albanians.
Advertisement“I will have to closely and carefully assess the situation as it develops,” Ban told reporters after talks with Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.
Friday's meeting came amid a flurry of diplomatic activity to ease tensions in the Balkans before an expected declaration of independence by the predominantly ethnic Albanian territory over the objections of Serbia's government.
Launching the EU mission is proving difficult because some member nations, notably Cyprus, do not back Kosovo's independence bid, fearing it would set a precedent for their divided island. Others have looked to Ban to give his blessing.
A deep rift has developed between the EU and Serbian-allied Russia over the province's status. Kosovo's independence is supported by the United States and most European Union members, including Britain and France. Russia opposes it.
EU foreign ministers meet Monday in Brussels, Belgium, where they will discuss steps to mollify Serbia to soften the pain of the possible loss of Kosovo.
The EU is debating a quick signing of a pre-membership deal with Serbia. EU officials have said membership would hinge on whether Serbia fully complied with bringing war criminals to the U.N. war crimes court in The Hague, Netherlands.
During a visit to EU headquarters this week, Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said that independence for the province was “an issue of days” and that ethnic Albanian leaders and Western capitals had agreed on a date to be revealed shortly.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
2:19 p.m. January 25, 2008
BRDO PRI KRANJU, Slovenia – U.N. Secretary-General Ban-Ki moon said Friday he could not yet give his blessing to a planned 1,800-strong European Union mission for Kosovo because of the international dispute over the future of the breakaway Serbian province.
The EU wants to send a policing and administrative mission to Kosovo to replace the current U.N. force, which took control alongside NATO peacekeepers in 1999 after war ended between Serbian troops and separatist ethnic Albanians.
Advertisement“I will have to closely and carefully assess the situation as it develops,” Ban told reporters after talks with Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.
Friday's meeting came amid a flurry of diplomatic activity to ease tensions in the Balkans before an expected declaration of independence by the predominantly ethnic Albanian territory over the objections of Serbia's government.
Launching the EU mission is proving difficult because some member nations, notably Cyprus, do not back Kosovo's independence bid, fearing it would set a precedent for their divided island. Others have looked to Ban to give his blessing.
A deep rift has developed between the EU and Serbian-allied Russia over the province's status. Kosovo's independence is supported by the United States and most European Union members, including Britain and France. Russia opposes it.
EU foreign ministers meet Monday in Brussels, Belgium, where they will discuss steps to mollify Serbia to soften the pain of the possible loss of Kosovo.
The EU is debating a quick signing of a pre-membership deal with Serbia. EU officials have said membership would hinge on whether Serbia fully complied with bringing war criminals to the U.N. war crimes court in The Hague, Netherlands.
During a visit to EU headquarters this week, Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said that independence for the province was “an issue of days” and that ethnic Albanian leaders and Western capitals had agreed on a date to be revealed shortly.