Post by wbb on Dec 13, 2007 1:01:41 GMT -5
PRISTINA, Serbia - Kosovo's president declared Wednesday the province would become independent of Serbia within days, but he did not specify a date.
President Fatmir Sejdiu's remarks suggest Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority will press on with declaring independence without delay, despite Serbian opposition.
"We're only a few days away from Kosovo's final act of independence, which will receive international blessing and the blessing of our friends, the U.S., E.U. and other democratic countries, Sejdiu said at a ceremonial tree-lighting ceremony in Pristina, the provincial capital.
"Kosovo will soon officially join Western European ideals," Sejdiu added, as he turned on the lights on a pine tree decorated for the festivities.
A spokesman for Kosovo authorities said last week that independence would be declared in the first months of 2008.
Ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the population of seven million in Kosovo, expect a swift recognition of independence from Western capitals. Minority Serbs backed by Russia threaten to leave the province and move to Serbia, or to group in Kosovo's north, where most of the minority lives, and then call for that territory to become part of Serbia.
Kosovo has been under U.N. administration since NATO bombed Serb forces in 1999, which ended a brutal campaign against separatist ethnic Albanians.
International envoys failed to resolve whether Kosovo should become independent or remain part of Serbia and the dispute will now go back to the U.N. Security Council.
On the council, Serbia's ally Russia is one of five powers with a veto and it has threatened in the past to veto any measure that allows Kosovo to become a state.
On Wednesday, Russia urged the Security Council to support further talks on the future status of Kosovo as Serbia has requested. But the U.S. and European nations who favor independence immediately rejected the appeal. Ethnic Albanians have brushed off the possibility of more negotiations with Serbia.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and British Ambassador John Sauers said the negotiating process has been exhausted after a two-year effort failed to produce an agreement between ethnic Albanian leaders and Serbia.
"The two sides remain in exactly the positions they were on sovereignty and we now believe the time has come to resolve the status of Kosovo finally so that that territory can move forward," Sauers said.
"I don't believe the Security Council, as far as I can judge, is going to be able to reach agreement on a way forward, in which case other organizations will have to take their responsibilities," he said, namely "the European Union and NATO."
EU foreign ministers meeting Monday in Brussels, Belgium, said they had "virtual unanimity" on recognizing Kosovo's eventual independence, with Cyprus the sole holdout.
Khalilzad said "we fundamentally differ with the Russians on this issue" and could not support the proposed Russian statement calling for further talks.
"Therefore, because of that fundamental difference we think negotiations have been exhausted," he said.
The Security Council is to discuss Kosovo next week.
NATO has some 16,000 troops stationed in the province and has recently stepped up patrolling Kosovo in an attempt to thwart any violence between ethnic Albanians and minority Serbs.
Associated Press Writer Edith M. Lederer contributed to this report from the United Nations.
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071213/ap_on_re_eu/kosovo_status_1
President Fatmir Sejdiu's remarks suggest Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority will press on with declaring independence without delay, despite Serbian opposition.
"We're only a few days away from Kosovo's final act of independence, which will receive international blessing and the blessing of our friends, the U.S., E.U. and other democratic countries, Sejdiu said at a ceremonial tree-lighting ceremony in Pristina, the provincial capital.
"Kosovo will soon officially join Western European ideals," Sejdiu added, as he turned on the lights on a pine tree decorated for the festivities.
A spokesman for Kosovo authorities said last week that independence would be declared in the first months of 2008.
Ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the population of seven million in Kosovo, expect a swift recognition of independence from Western capitals. Minority Serbs backed by Russia threaten to leave the province and move to Serbia, or to group in Kosovo's north, where most of the minority lives, and then call for that territory to become part of Serbia.
Kosovo has been under U.N. administration since NATO bombed Serb forces in 1999, which ended a brutal campaign against separatist ethnic Albanians.
International envoys failed to resolve whether Kosovo should become independent or remain part of Serbia and the dispute will now go back to the U.N. Security Council.
On the council, Serbia's ally Russia is one of five powers with a veto and it has threatened in the past to veto any measure that allows Kosovo to become a state.
On Wednesday, Russia urged the Security Council to support further talks on the future status of Kosovo as Serbia has requested. But the U.S. and European nations who favor independence immediately rejected the appeal. Ethnic Albanians have brushed off the possibility of more negotiations with Serbia.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and British Ambassador John Sauers said the negotiating process has been exhausted after a two-year effort failed to produce an agreement between ethnic Albanian leaders and Serbia.
"The two sides remain in exactly the positions they were on sovereignty and we now believe the time has come to resolve the status of Kosovo finally so that that territory can move forward," Sauers said.
"I don't believe the Security Council, as far as I can judge, is going to be able to reach agreement on a way forward, in which case other organizations will have to take their responsibilities," he said, namely "the European Union and NATO."
EU foreign ministers meeting Monday in Brussels, Belgium, said they had "virtual unanimity" on recognizing Kosovo's eventual independence, with Cyprus the sole holdout.
Khalilzad said "we fundamentally differ with the Russians on this issue" and could not support the proposed Russian statement calling for further talks.
"Therefore, because of that fundamental difference we think negotiations have been exhausted," he said.
The Security Council is to discuss Kosovo next week.
NATO has some 16,000 troops stationed in the province and has recently stepped up patrolling Kosovo in an attempt to thwart any violence between ethnic Albanians and minority Serbs.
Associated Press Writer Edith M. Lederer contributed to this report from the United Nations.
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071213/ap_on_re_eu/kosovo_status_1