Report: Plan grants supervised statehood

Report: Plan grants supervised statehood

The summary was delivered to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week with a lengthy report detailing the plan.

The Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo Status Settlement states that "Kosovo shall be a multi-ethnic society, governing itself democratically and with full respect for the rule of law, the highest level of internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms, and which promotes the peaceful and prosperous existence of all its inhabitants."

The settlement includes safeguards to protect minority rights, to ensure that the justice system is inclusive, to protect and promote Kosovo's religious and cultural heritage, and ensure "the unfettered and undisturbed existence and operation of the Serbian Orthodox Church."

All refugees and residents of Kosovo who fled their homes but are still in the province would have the right to return and reclaim their property and possessions, it said.

Under the plan, the Kosovo Assembly would adopt a constitution to enshrine these and other key principles during a 120-day transition period after the settlement is signed, in consultation with an International Civilian Representative who would also represent the European Union.

During the transition, the assembly would also approve legislation to implement the settlement plan. That legislation and the new constitution would become effective at the end of the transition period, according to the summary.

Under the plan, the mandate for the UN Mission in Kosovo would expire at the end of the transition and its legislative and executive authority would be transferred "en bloc to the authorities of Kosovo."

"Within nine months of the entry into force of the settlement, general and local elections are to be held," the executive summary says.

International officials had conditioned talks on Kosovo's future status with progress on eight standards including establishing functioning democratic institutions, protecting minorities, promoting economic development, and ensuring the rule of law, freedom of movement and property rights.

Russia, which has close ties to Serbia and opposes Kosovo being split off, complained Monday that Ahtisaari's deputy was promoting independence instead of fulfillment of the standards.

Ahtisaari is expected to present the plan to the UN Security Council early next month. He has said the potential for negotiations between the Albanians and Serbs was exhausted. Serbia has backed Russia's call for continued talks on the future status of Kosovo without Ahtisaari.

Parts of the Executive Summary were reported last month by The Associated Press in Priština.

The plan provides for an international presence "to supervise and support the relevant efforts of Kosovo's authorities," according to the summary. The International Civilian Representative, to be appointed by an International Steering Group, "will have ultimate supervisory authority over the implementation of the settlement." The representative's mandate will continue until the Steering Group "determines that Kosovo has implemented the terms of the settlement," it said.

The representative can annul decisions or laws adopted by Kosovo authorities, and impose sanctions or remove public officials "whose actions are determined ... to be inconsistent with the letter or spirit of the settlement," the summary said.

Under the plan, a European Security and Defense Policy Mission will assist Kosovo in developing "efficient, fair and representative police, judicial, customs and penal institutions." It will also have authority "to ensure the maintenance and promotion of the rule of law, public order and security."

The plan envisions the establishment within a year of "a new professional and multi-ethnic Kosovo Security Force" with a maximum of 2,500 active members and 800 reserve members. The settlement stipulates that the current Kosovo Protection Corps will be dissolved within a year after the end of the transition period, according to the summary.

The NATO-led force will remain in Kosovo until its institutions "are capable of assuming the full range of security responsibilities," it said. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will be asked to assist in monitoring implementation of the settlement.