Post by Fender on Jan 26, 2008 9:43:17 GMT -5
UN Chief Meets Slovenia President,Foreign Min; To Discuss Kosovo
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP)--U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was meeting Slovenia's president and foreign minister on Saturday, the second day of his visit to the country that holds the European Union presidency.
Ban's talks with Slovenian officials include the topic of E.U. countries' participation in U.N. peacekeeping missions to Kosovo, the Serbian province that plans to declare independence in the coming weeks - a move Serbia wants to prevent.
Ban is scheduled to meet President Danilo Turk - a longtime diplomat in the U.N. in New York - and Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, but isn't expected to speak to the media.
On Friday, after meeting Prime Minister Janez Jansa, Ban said he couldn't yet give his blessing to a planned 1,800-strong E.U. mission for Kosovo because of the international dispute over the province's future.
The E.U. mission - the launch of which is proving difficult because of Serbia's opposition - would replace the current U.N. mission, which took control alongside NATO peacekeepers in 1999 after war ended between Serbian troops and separatist ethnic Albanians.
"I will have to closely and carefully assess the situation as it develops," Ban said.
Slovenia - once a part of the Yugoslav federation together with Serbia and Kosovo - is trying to find a solution for Kosovo that would prevent a new wave of tensions in the Balkans.
Both the E.U. nations and the U.N. Security Council have so far failed to reach a common position on Kosovo. Washington and most E.U. countries support Kosovo's independence, but some within the E.U. still oppose it. In the U.N., Russia backs Serbia's firm rejection.
A document leaked to prominent Slovenian daily Dnevnik this week - reportedly a transcript from a Dec. 24 meeting between Slovenian and senior American officials - showed that Washington is aware that Ban is in a "tough situation" regarding Kosovo because of "Russia's pressure."
Mitja Drobnic, a senior Slovenian diplomat, reportedly asked Washington to help in getting Ban's support for the E.U. mission.
The transcript also has U.S. deputy assistant secretary for European affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, saying that it would "make sense" if Kosovo declared independence on a Sunday, so Russia "will not have time to call the U.N. Security Council session" before several countries have already recognized Kosovo.
The authenticity of the document was indirectly confirmed by the government, which ordered an investigation to determine who leaked it to Dnevnik.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-26-080905ET
Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP)--U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was meeting Slovenia's president and foreign minister on Saturday, the second day of his visit to the country that holds the European Union presidency.
Ban's talks with Slovenian officials include the topic of E.U. countries' participation in U.N. peacekeeping missions to Kosovo, the Serbian province that plans to declare independence in the coming weeks - a move Serbia wants to prevent.
Ban is scheduled to meet President Danilo Turk - a longtime diplomat in the U.N. in New York - and Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, but isn't expected to speak to the media.
On Friday, after meeting Prime Minister Janez Jansa, Ban said he couldn't yet give his blessing to a planned 1,800-strong E.U. mission for Kosovo because of the international dispute over the province's future.
The E.U. mission - the launch of which is proving difficult because of Serbia's opposition - would replace the current U.N. mission, which took control alongside NATO peacekeepers in 1999 after war ended between Serbian troops and separatist ethnic Albanians.
"I will have to closely and carefully assess the situation as it develops," Ban said.
Slovenia - once a part of the Yugoslav federation together with Serbia and Kosovo - is trying to find a solution for Kosovo that would prevent a new wave of tensions in the Balkans.
Both the E.U. nations and the U.N. Security Council have so far failed to reach a common position on Kosovo. Washington and most E.U. countries support Kosovo's independence, but some within the E.U. still oppose it. In the U.N., Russia backs Serbia's firm rejection.
A document leaked to prominent Slovenian daily Dnevnik this week - reportedly a transcript from a Dec. 24 meeting between Slovenian and senior American officials - showed that Washington is aware that Ban is in a "tough situation" regarding Kosovo because of "Russia's pressure."
Mitja Drobnic, a senior Slovenian diplomat, reportedly asked Washington to help in getting Ban's support for the E.U. mission.
The transcript also has U.S. deputy assistant secretary for European affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, saying that it would "make sense" if Kosovo declared independence on a Sunday, so Russia "will not have time to call the U.N. Security Council session" before several countries have already recognized Kosovo.
The authenticity of the document was indirectly confirmed by the government, which ordered an investigation to determine who leaked it to Dnevnik.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-26-080905ET
Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.