Post by wbb on Dec 13, 2007 1:04:22 GMT -5
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Russia must accept the reality that "Serbia and Kosovo are never going to be one again" or risk instability there, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview published Wednesday.
"I hope that the Russians are as committed as we are to a stable outcome in the Balkans and to being constructive in the Balkans," Rice said after talks on Kosovo in Brussels last week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"But the fact of the matter is Kosovo and Serbia are never going to be one again, and that's the reality," Rice was quoted as saying in USA Today.
"And if you don't deal with that reality, you're only going to sow the seeds of considerable discontent and considerable instability," Rice said.
The Albanian-majority Serb province of Kosovo is seeking independence while Russian-backed Serbia is willing to grant its southern province no more than autonomy.
Rice endorsed a plan presented early this year by the UN special envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, that calls for independence under international supervision for the province.
"Both Kosovo and Serbia need to get on with their futures, their separate but related futures. And the way to do that is for Serbia to have a strong European perspective," Rice said.
"I have been encouraging our European allies to do as much as they can to encourage that European perspective," she added.
The focus now is on ensuring that Kosovo fufills its obligations under the Ahtisaari plan -- such as the protection of minority rights and religious sites -- "because there isn't any more point to further negotiation," she said.
A negotiating deadline expired on Monday after a diplomatic troika of the United States, Russia and the European Union failed to broker a compromise between the ethnic Albanians and Serbs on Kosovo's future.
European Union leaders are to meet over Kosovo at a summit Friday, ahead of a UN Security Council debate on the thorny issue on December 19.
Russia said Tuesday it will demand that the UN Security Council annul any unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo.
Following the expiry of the UN-set deadline for a negotiated settlement, Kosovo's Albanian leaders said they would immediately begin coordinating a move to independence with international partners.
A declaration on breaking away from Serbia is widely expected next month.
news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071212/pl_afp/eusummitkosovousrice_071212175323
"I hope that the Russians are as committed as we are to a stable outcome in the Balkans and to being constructive in the Balkans," Rice said after talks on Kosovo in Brussels last week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"But the fact of the matter is Kosovo and Serbia are never going to be one again, and that's the reality," Rice was quoted as saying in USA Today.
"And if you don't deal with that reality, you're only going to sow the seeds of considerable discontent and considerable instability," Rice said.
The Albanian-majority Serb province of Kosovo is seeking independence while Russian-backed Serbia is willing to grant its southern province no more than autonomy.
Rice endorsed a plan presented early this year by the UN special envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, that calls for independence under international supervision for the province.
"Both Kosovo and Serbia need to get on with their futures, their separate but related futures. And the way to do that is for Serbia to have a strong European perspective," Rice said.
"I have been encouraging our European allies to do as much as they can to encourage that European perspective," she added.
The focus now is on ensuring that Kosovo fufills its obligations under the Ahtisaari plan -- such as the protection of minority rights and religious sites -- "because there isn't any more point to further negotiation," she said.
A negotiating deadline expired on Monday after a diplomatic troika of the United States, Russia and the European Union failed to broker a compromise between the ethnic Albanians and Serbs on Kosovo's future.
European Union leaders are to meet over Kosovo at a summit Friday, ahead of a UN Security Council debate on the thorny issue on December 19.
Russia said Tuesday it will demand that the UN Security Council annul any unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo.
Following the expiry of the UN-set deadline for a negotiated settlement, Kosovo's Albanian leaders said they would immediately begin coordinating a move to independence with international partners.
A declaration on breaking away from Serbia is widely expected next month.
news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071212/pl_afp/eusummitkosovousrice_071212175323