Post by engers on Dec 6, 2007 10:41:01 GMT -5
No alternative to independence plan for Kosovo: US mediator
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SOFIA (AFP) — A UN proposal giving Kosovo "supervised independence" should be enforced after the failure of last-ditch talks on the breakaway Serbian province's future, US mediator Frank Wisner said Wednesday.
"Having exhausted the negotiating process, the proposal offered by the former Finnish President Marti Ahtisaari is on the table and deserves to be implemented," Wisner said in Sofia after meeting Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin.
"During these 120 days we left no stone unturned... But no common ground was found and that is a regret for all of us," he said.
UN special envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari presented a plan in early 2007 calling for independence under international supervision for the ethnic Albanian-majority province.
But 11th-hour talks to resolve Kosovo's future, mediated by the so-called troika of US envoy Wisner and his EU and Russian counterparts, failed last week to move Pristina and Belgrade closer ahead of a December 10 UN deadline.
Pristina demands nothing short of independence while Belgrade is only prepared to grant autonomy.
The troika is to present its final report to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon by December 10, when its mandate on Kosovo ends.
But Kosovo Albanian leaders, backed by the United States, have vowed to unilaterally proclaim independence soon after that deadline, fuelling fears of renewed violence across the region.
"What is going to happen in the future exceeds the mandate that I carry as a negotiator," Wisner said Wednesday.
"But my own view is that the authorities in Kosovo are men of judgement, men that recognise that consensus is necessary for their own future and that they will be deliberate and careful. I am confident that responsibility will be exercised," he said.
Bulgaria's Ivaylo Kalfin added: "Even after December 10, the international community should work close with both Belgrade and Pristina to find the mechanisms to prevent the region from sliding into violence and destructive politics."
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[ftp]http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j6kIRCvlrZCy503Vhv3XgtaXkUaQ[/ftp]
_________________________________________________
SOFIA (AFP) — A UN proposal giving Kosovo "supervised independence" should be enforced after the failure of last-ditch talks on the breakaway Serbian province's future, US mediator Frank Wisner said Wednesday.
"Having exhausted the negotiating process, the proposal offered by the former Finnish President Marti Ahtisaari is on the table and deserves to be implemented," Wisner said in Sofia after meeting Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin.
"During these 120 days we left no stone unturned... But no common ground was found and that is a regret for all of us," he said.
UN special envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari presented a plan in early 2007 calling for independence under international supervision for the ethnic Albanian-majority province.
But 11th-hour talks to resolve Kosovo's future, mediated by the so-called troika of US envoy Wisner and his EU and Russian counterparts, failed last week to move Pristina and Belgrade closer ahead of a December 10 UN deadline.
Pristina demands nothing short of independence while Belgrade is only prepared to grant autonomy.
The troika is to present its final report to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon by December 10, when its mandate on Kosovo ends.
But Kosovo Albanian leaders, backed by the United States, have vowed to unilaterally proclaim independence soon after that deadline, fuelling fears of renewed violence across the region.
"What is going to happen in the future exceeds the mandate that I carry as a negotiator," Wisner said Wednesday.
"But my own view is that the authorities in Kosovo are men of judgement, men that recognise that consensus is necessary for their own future and that they will be deliberate and careful. I am confident that responsibility will be exercised," he said.
Bulgaria's Ivaylo Kalfin added: "Even after December 10, the international community should work close with both Belgrade and Pristina to find the mechanisms to prevent the region from sliding into violence and destructive politics."
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[ftp]http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j6kIRCvlrZCy503Vhv3XgtaXkUaQ[/ftp]