"Partition may be option for Kosovo"

"Partition may be option for Kosovo"

"It is the principle of the Troika to be prepared to endorse any agreement which both parties manage to achieve. That includes all options," the European Union's envoy, Wolfgang Ischinger, told a news conference.

Asked if that included splitting the territory in two, he replied: "If they want that."

Both Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians have said they do not want partition, but have also shown no sign of conceding on the main issue - Kosovo's independence.

"We are urging both sides to think outside the box," said Ischinger. "If both sides repeat their classic positions, there is little hope for compromise or bridge-building."

He said an agreed solution presented to the UN Security Council would be in the best interests of all concerned.

Kosovo Albanian leaders told the troika on Saturday they expected independence by the end of the year. They have threatened to declare independence unilaterally and seek recognition from Western powers, a move that would almost certainly split the 27-member EU, Reuters said.

Kosovo Serbs: Troika does not prejudice status solution

The leaders of the Serb community in Kosovo met with the Contact Group Troika Sunday.

After the meeting, they said the mediators in the Kosovo status talks gave them guarantees that a compromise solution will be sought in a bid to solve the issue of the province's future status.

"The status will not be prejudiced and there are de facto no time frames [for the talks]. After 120 days, the Troika will present its reports, but that will not be the end of the process," Serb List for Kosovo leader Oliver Ivanović told reporters in Priština.

"It is more than obvious that this process will take time and we hope the gap between the current positions will narrow, because otherwise there will be no compromise," he added.

Ivanović said that today's meeting with the Troika, made up of EU, U.S. and Russian diplomats Wolfgang Ischinger, Frank Wisner and Alexandar Botsan-Kharchenko, brought up the issue of the standards "for the first time in a long time."

"Intensive activity will follow in the coming period, and we expect that the Kosovo Serbs will be included, directly or indirectly. The negotiating teams will take the greatest responsibility and they will make the decisions, but it is important for us, as representatives of ordinary people, to voice our opinions," Ivanović said.

Zubin Potok municipal president, Slaviša Ristić, also addressed reporters after the meeting, and repeated that the Troika diplomats gave assurances they will not prejudice Kosovo's future status.

"This was not the case with Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari," Ristić said, but noted the Finnish diplomat and his team also promised to be impartial and work for a solution acceptable for both sides

He added that a compromise solution did not mean "a new state of Kosovo in this region."

Ristić said the Troika "made it abundantly clear that it was waiting for both sides to offer solutions or ideas that could lead to an acceptable settlement."

After yesterday's talks with the NATO Force in Kosovo (KFOR), the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and Kosovo Albanian officials, the mediators said they would not put forward their own proposals defining Kosovo's future status, but will instead insist on a solution based on a consensus between Belgrade and Priština.