Ahtisaari recommends independence

Ahtisaari recommends independence

He also said in his report “it would be impossible for Kosovo to remain an integral part of Serbia,” adding that the manner of granting Kosovo its statehood would not set a precedent for the settlement of other potentially similar cases in the world.

Soon after Ahtisaari’s plan was made known, messages of support followed from the U.S. State Department, the UK, the European Union and NATO, while Russia refused to back the plan, as it still insists on the continuation of the talks.

U.S. Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns expected consultations, rather than new negotiations, to take place between Priština, Belgrade and the UN Security Council in order to formulate “the best resolution for Kosovo’s status settlement.”

Burns reiterated U.S. support to Ahtisaari’s proposal to set Kosovo on the path to independence, pledging to assure minority rights for Kosovo Serbs.

“We support all recommendations by Martti Ahtisaari and back the process that will lead to the supervised independence for Kosovo. We are fully aware of the complexity of the task and emotions it entails. However, it’s high time Kosovo residents were given a chance to assume control of their own fate after eight years of suspense,” Burns said.

In a telephone conversation, President Boris Tadić told Burns he disagreed with U.S. State Department’s decision to support Ahtisaari’s plan.

Tadić’s advisor Vuk Jeremić said that the President planned to dispatch official letters to the UN Security Council non-permanent member states.
“We have also planned to send emissaries to the states’ capitals so as to relay Serbia’s position on Kosovo, insisting that the potential for negotiations has not yet been exhausted. We hope this opinion will prevail in the UN Security State,” Jeremić concluded.