Bildt: UNMIK should stay in north

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt says UNMIK should "stay a while longer in northern Kosovo". He was addressing the Transatlantic Forum in Brussels Friday when he made the comments. UNMIK is the UN mission sent to Kosovo in 1999 and authorized by UN Security Council Resolution 1244. Bildt: UNMIK should stay in north But the European Union has sent its own mission, EULEX, although it received no invitation from the UN secretary-general – the condition set out by 1244 for deployment of any new international mission. Belgrade, Moscow, and Serbs in northern Kosovo consider EULEX and its presence in the province illegal. EULEX last month announced it "temporarily halted" attempts to deploy in the north. Now Bildt, who was recently in Kosovo, told Beta news agency his meetings with the local Serbs "testified that the partition was present in their lives". "These are two societies, two communities," he said in reference to Serbs and ethnic Albanians. "We have tried for many years of the UN presence to overcome this, but with no significant success." Bildt was reacting to some media reports that it was his idea to keep UNMIK in the northern, majority-Serb areas of Kosovo, at the same time deploying EULEX in other parts, and accusations that "this leads to partition". Asked whether UNMIK's continued presence in the north could help overcome this division, the Swedish chief of diplomacy said, "we must wait and see". "The situation there must be solved with utmost care. We don't want any provocations, or violence," Bildt said. Russia has on several occasions warned against KFOR or UNMIK using force against those Serbs who reject EULEX. Asked about the possibility of a compromise at the UN Security Council on the EU mission's legal basis, or lack thereof, considering that EU and UN experts are currently holding meetings, Bildt said these talks were ongoing, "but not exactly about the legal basis for EULEX, more about some practical issues". "In time we will arrive at something, though not in the coming weeks. Perhaps an innovative solution should be found," he was vague. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also took part in the forum Friday when he said that the fact it was Slovenia, formerly a part of Yugoslavia and now presiding over the European Union, "which has welcomed the independent state of Kosovo and at the same time offered Serbia membership in the EU", was "very interesting and symbolic". Kouchner also accused Russia of being responsible for the absence of a negotiated agreement between Belgrade and Pristina. President of the Russian Duma Foreign Policy Committee Konstantin Kosachov, who also took part in the discussion, replied that it was not Russia's stand which prevented the finding of a solution, "but rather the promise of the West to Kosovo Albanians that they would get independence sooner or later". "Kosovo Albanians were therefore not motivated to look for a solution," he said, adding that the "promise was made during the NATO bombing of Serbia". Kosachev was referring to the 1999 war. Tanjug news agency says that another participant, former U.S. Balkans envoy Richard Holbrooke, reacted to this by saying that he "knew about that" and by – bursting into laughter. Bildt during his recent Pristina visit (Beta)

Bildt: UNMIK should stay in north

But the European Union has sent its own mission, EULEX, although it received no invitation from the UN secretary-general – the condition set out by 1244 for deployment of any new international mission. Belgrade, Moscow, and Serbs in northern Kosovo consider EULEX and its presence in the province illegal.

EULEX last month announced it "temporarily halted" attempts to deploy in the north.

Now Bildt, who was recently in Kosovo, told Beta news agency his meetings with the local Serbs "testified that the partition was present in their lives".

"These are two societies, two communities," he said in reference to Serbs and ethnic Albanians. "We have tried for many years of the UN presence to overcome this, but with no significant success."

Bildt was reacting to some media reports that it was his idea to keep UNMIK in the northern, majority-Serb areas of Kosovo, at the same time deploying EULEX in other parts, and accusations that "this leads to partition".

Asked whether UNMIK's continued presence in the north could help overcome this division, the Swedish chief of diplomacy said, "we must wait and see".

"The situation there must be solved with utmost care. We don't want any provocations, or violence," Bildt said.

Russia has on several occasions warned against KFOR or UNMIK using force against those Serbs who reject EULEX.

Asked about the possibility of a compromise at the UN Security Council on the EU mission's legal basis, or lack thereof, considering that EU and UN experts are currently holding meetings, Bildt said these talks were ongoing, "but not exactly about the legal basis for EULEX, more about some practical issues".

"In time we will arrive at something, though not in the coming weeks. Perhaps an innovative solution should be found," he was vague.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also took part in the forum Friday when he said that the fact it was Slovenia, formerly a part of Yugoslavia and now presiding over the European Union, "which has welcomed the independent state of Kosovo and at the same time offered Serbia membership in the EU", was "very interesting and symbolic".

Kouchner also accused Russia of being responsible for the absence of a negotiated agreement between Belgrade and Priština.

President of the Russian Duma Foreign Policy Committee Konstantin Kosachov, who also took part in the discussion, replied that it was not Russia's stand which prevented the finding of a solution, "but rather the promise of the West to Kosovo Albanians that they would get independence sooner or later".

"Kosovo Albanians were therefore not motivated to look for a solution," he said, adding that the "promise was made during the NATO bombing of Serbia". Kosachev was referring to the 1999 war.

Tanjug news agency says that another participant, former U.S. Balkans envoy Richard Holbrooke, reacted to this by saying that he "knew about that" and by – bursting into laughter.