Ahtisaari to brief OSCE ambassadors

Ahtisaari to brief OSCE ambassadors

Vienna will host the final round of negotiations on the settlement of Kosovo status set to begin tomorrow. Negotiating teams from Belgrade and Priština are expected to focus on the content of the proposal that Ahtisaari unveiled on February 2.

The UN Special Envoy is to present the final version of his plan after the completion of the talks. The plan in its entirety will then be put before the UN Security Council.

The Belgrade negotiating team will set off to Vienna this afternoon.

Aleksandar Simić, adviser to Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica and a member of the negotiating team, said that Belgrade would reject all elements of Ahtisaari’s plan drafted to violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia.

Dušan Janjić, chairman of the Forum for Ethnic Relations, said that Belgrade could initially give its remarks and concrete suggestions in regards to the elements of the plan that should be amended to the benefit of Serbia.

“Belgrade is not in the position to raise new issues for negotiation. It can only state its opinion, propose amendments and take diplomatic action to win the approval of the Contact Group in relation to the amendments”, Janjić argues.

Janjić stressed that Belgrade should prepare well for the next round of negotiations which will ensue after Martti Ahtisaari submits his final plan to the UN Security Council.

“It’s not clear whether Belgrade wants the solution to be imposed so as to say that nothing more could have been done. Ahtisaari’s plan offers no genuine independence, and I’m not sure why Belgrade insists that the UN Envoy’s document is final as it is and gives overt independence to the province. Belgrade is thereby left with little room for maneuvering”, Janjić concluded.

Dourlot: Problem on both sides

Ahtisaari’s spokesperson Remi Dourlot disagrees with a prevalent belief that tomorrow’s talks in Vienna mark the beginning of negotiations.

“The negotiating process began a year ago, and the current proposal resulted from the process spanning 15 or 16 rounds of talks between the conflicting sides. Ahtisaari’s plan is therefore a balanced and well phrased document”, Dourlot said.

“Martti Ahtisaari said earlier today that the problem lies with both sides. When each side mentions a compromise, it infers that the other side must accept their opinion. That’s why we are pessimistic that any headway can be made in Vienna”, Dourlot told B92.