Cabinet talks after Parliament session

I guess it is only right that the mandate is given to Djelic in the first instance but it is debateable that he will be able to form a government. I guess the 2 weeks will pass very fast and then we might find the mandate passing back to Kostunica.

In the meantime we will see the talks progress on the 21st Feb. and this will be a guide in the formation of a govt. or even a re-run of elections. Athisarri should have really waited till a govt. was formed before letting the cat out of the bag if he really wanted a compliant Serbia - clearly he wants Serbia to disagree. Athisarri was on record for saying if he was advising his govt he would suggest they pull out their troops - Freudian slip maybe?

Blag - things are falling in place and unless the US changes it's stance at the last chance saloon in Vienna things are going to get messy for the US and it's KLA buddies.

Certainly what is coming out of the EU looks like more of the same set of conditions so I guess no-one is really interested in pushing through Athisarri plan by dangling a real carrot.

my take: washington can still climb down from their postition b/c no one of substance has yet taken up their cause publicly. there was one mild statement by condoleeza... and that's it. all the others are clinton-era holdovers at the state department (fried, wisner, etc).

and pls note the sharp level of rhetoric being used in german and american media about russia... and note putin, lavrov, and ivanov's kosovo remarks this weekend. do you not find it odd that the rusian PM, FM, and defense minister all used language not heard since the cold war? they are getting ready to pick a fight with a bleeding america and the first scuffle will be kosovo.

The Serbs should form a united front in order to get the maximum concessions from the upcoming talks.Very soon we will see big power politics at play.

Luciano - I think the united front was shown via the elections with pratically all parties (representing approx 90% of the vote) stating they will not give up Kosovo & Metohija. This is not a bluff but something that all leading Serbian politicians have now placed considerably credibility to.

I guess we shall see when the talks begin but Serbia has always wanted to be active in the negotiations and will once again stand united behind it's principled stance. Athisarri has always wanted to ignore the principles upon which the UN is based and the Helsinki agreement but they will have to be discussed fully - if not with Serbia then with Russia & China.

This has not & is not a matter of concessions - it never has been - that is why some see the Serbs as obstructionalist - when in fact it is generally a failure of the west to comprehend that Yugoslavia's collapse is complex and multi-faceted and quite often the roots of the problem are very deep. There exists a different mindset in the South East beyond just mere carrots and sticks.

I really do hope a real compromise can come about next week as it really is in everyones interest. Creating new borders and a nation that has no historical legitamcy with the threat of further violence is the furthest point one can be from a truly lasting solution. In the long term it sends out a very strong message about democracy by force of numbers. This is ominous to any nation state.

I guess it is only right that the mandate is given to Djelic in the first instance but it is debateable that he will be able to form a government. I guess the 2 weeks will pass very fast and then we might find the mandate passing back to Kostunica.

In the meantime we will see the talks progress on the 21st Feb. and this will be a guide in the formation of a govt. or even a re-run of elections. Athisarri should have really waited till a govt. was formed before letting the cat out of the bag if he really wanted a compliant Serbia - clearly he wants Serbia to disagree. Athisarri was on record for saying if he was advising his govt he would suggest they pull out their troops - Freudian slip maybe?

Blag - things are falling in place and unless the US changes it's stance at the last chance saloon in Vienna things are going to get messy for the US and it's KLA buddies.

Certainly what is coming out of the EU looks like more of the same set of conditions so I guess no-one is really interested in pushing through Athisarri plan by dangling a real carrot.

my take: washington can still climb down from their postition b/c no one of substance has yet taken up their cause publicly. there was one mild statement by condoleeza... and that's it. all the others are clinton-era holdovers at the state department (fried, wisner, etc).

and pls note the sharp level of rhetoric being used in german and american media about russia... and note putin, lavrov, and ivanov's kosovo remarks this weekend. do you not find it odd that the rusian PM, FM, and defense minister all used language not heard since the cold war? they are getting ready to pick a fight with a bleeding america and the first scuffle will be kosovo.

The Serbs should form a united front in order to get the maximum concessions from the upcoming talks.Very soon we will see big power politics at play.

Luciano - I think the united front was shown via the elections with pratically all parties (representing approx 90% of the vote) stating they will not give up Kosovo & Metohija. This is not a bluff but something that all leading Serbian politicians have now placed considerably credibility to.

I guess we shall see when the talks begin but Serbia has always wanted to be active in the negotiations and will once again stand united behind it's principled stance. Athisarri has always wanted to ignore the principles upon which the UN is based and the Helsinki agreement but they will have to be discussed fully - if not with Serbia then with Russia & China.

This has not & is not a matter of concessions - it never has been - that is why some see the Serbs as obstructionalist - when in fact it is generally a failure of the west to comprehend that Yugoslavia's collapse is complex and multi-faceted and quite often the roots of the problem are very deep. There exists a different mindset in the South East beyond just mere carrots and sticks.

I really do hope a real compromise can come about next week as it really is in everyones interest. Creating new borders and a nation that has no historical legitamcy with the threat of further violence is the furthest point one can be from a truly lasting solution. In the long term it sends out a very strong message about democracy by force of numbers. This is ominous to any nation state.