Ban Ki-moon: UN will soon decide on Kosovo

Ban Ki-moon: UN will soon decide on Kosovo

The UN Secretary-General stressed that the Security Council members were holding consultations in regards to Kosovo.

“I have talked with many presidents and prime ministers, asking them to back the issue,” he said.

According to him, delays in finalizing Kosovo’s status settlement process would not change the current situation, since the positions of two contending sides were unlikely to change.

“Ahtisaari’s plan contains all necessary elements to build Kosovo’s future,” Ban Ki-moon concluded.

Ahtisaari: Resolution by June's end

UN special Kosovo envoy Martti Ahtisaari says Kosovo issue must be settled by June’s end, during the German EU presidency.

The daily quoted Ahtisaari as saying that he regarded it unlikely for Russia to reject his proposal for gradual independence for the Serbian province at the UN Security Council.

Ahtisaari told the paper he would be "astonished and disappointed" if Russia opted to veto the proposal, adding the veto was “never used wantonly at the UN.”

"First of all, this would weaken the UN's value and utility. I do not believe the Russians want to weaken the UN's role as a place where one is able to agree on matters," Ahtisaari told Helsingin Sanomat.

The UN Kosovo envoy has proposed in his plan that Kosovo should have the right to many trappings of statehood, including a security force, membership in international organizations and national symbols, under the label "internationally supervised independence".