EU calls for more Kosovo talks

EU calls for more Kosovo talks

UN Kosovo envoy Martti Ahtisaari’s plan is subject to changes, but not strategic ones, the European Union Ministerial Council stated after yesterday’s meeting.

Sources from the EU told the Beta agency that, “with acceptable boundaries, there are some signs that the added discussions could be led without an ultimatum that Ahtisaari’s plan will be implemented automatically if the talks fall through.”

Rupel also said that Belgrade and Priština officials would be able to hold new negotiations in Brussels.

German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier said that the EU foreign policy officials discussed the current situation within the UN Security Council regarding the Kosovo status question in order to have a better grasp on the situation.

“We do not know when, or whether there will be the right conditions for having a European mission take over for UNMIK,” Steinmeier said.

Rupel said that there were “significant differences on how to maintain unity within the EU” , regarding the Kosovo question, adding that most agree that Ahtisaari’s plan is a good start for finding a direction in which the solution should progress.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said that it was clear that a resolution from the UN Security Council was necessary.

“That is the only way to progress and the only way to send a European Union mission. In order to achieve that, we might need some creative diplomacy, but if we do not achieve that, then we are definitely in a dangerous situation,” Bildt said.

Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis also backed continued talks between Pristina and Belgrade.

“The new Serbian government is now really willing to negotiate therefore we must give them this opportunity,” Bakoyannis told Greek journalists after the ministerial meeting.

Belgrade sends Kosovo proposal to Moscow

Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardžić said discussions regarding the province's future status cannot have a deadline.

Samardžić rejected the proposed resolution submitted by the U.S. and EU to the United Nations Security Council this week.

He said that the status solution would come in due time if the process was not given a limit or deadline.

Samardžić said that he had presented a document to the Russian ambassador in Belgrade, Alexander Alexeyev, containing Serbia's stands and proposals for further negotiations about the solving of the issue of Kosovo.

Speaking at a news conference in the Serbian government, Samardžić said he was unable to elaborate on any details of the document, but pointed out that it was based on the existing platform and that its purpose was to give an initiative to the Russian side ahead of the July 2 meeting of Russian and U.S. presidents, Vladimir Putin and George Bush.

Stating that Serbia's goal was the preservation of Kosovo within its borders, Samardžić said Serbia remained completely open and flexible for all solutions that would be reached through negotiations and a compromise, and which would provide Kosovo with a high level of autonomy and enable its self-rule.

“From the platform, which is known, we took out what was most interesting, the things Putin could most easily and in the best way talk to President Bush about. We also gave him several concrete proposals regarding the procedure of the discussions. It is very important to us to have the process restart in the right way, to head in the direction of finding a solution and a compromise,” Samardžić said.

He said the new resolution that has been proposed in the Security Council brought nothing new compared with the previous two and that it was unacceptable for Belgrade.

Parliament Speaker Oliver Dulić said he expected the negotiating team or the Ministry for Kosovo to address the house as soon as possible and present the situation regarding the province to the deputies, as well as the related documents that Serbia has sent to Moscow and other world centers.