Belgrade receives Vienna invitation

The Foreign Ministry on Thursday received an invitation for the Vienna meeting scheduled for August 30. The meeting will be held as part of the new negotiations on Kosovo's future status, Tanjug has learned from sources close to the MFA. Belgrade receives Vienna invitation A Pristina Albanian-language daily reported earlier today, referring to the statement issued by the office of Kosovo President and head of the Pristina negotiating team, Fatmir Sejdiu, that the Kosovo Albanian team had also received an invitation for the continued negotiations. The format and agenda of the Vienna talks has not been revealed as yet, nor is this defined in the invitation, Zeri reported. However, it was announced earlier that the mediating Troika of the EU, Russia and the United States, represented by Wolfgan Ischinger, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko and Frank Wisner, is likely to hold separate talks with the Belgrade and Pristina delegations. Also Thursday, before the arrival of the invitation was confirmed, Kosovo Minister Slobodan Samardzic said the fact Belgrade had not yet received one was "strange, given that the day was approaching." He explained that Belgrade was still without a negotiation team formed for the talks, since the format of negotiations is unknown. Samardzic also warned Wednesday, after talks with Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado that the Albanian side "will not accept constructive negotiations if hints keep being made about the future status of Kosovo." "I have emphasized our stand that if hints keep being made about the final solution, as certain circles are doing, the negotiations will fail." "The Albanian side will not accept constructive negotiations, we shall lose time and have to start all over again," he stressed. In the meantime, Kosovo president Fatmir Sejdiu’s office issued a statement late Wednesday saying the Pristina delegation “has just received the invitation for the meeting in the Austrian capital.” Tanjug reported earlier today that Director of European Studies at the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington, Charles Kupchan, also qualified as "strange" the fact that Belgrade had not yet received an official invitation or the agenda of the first meeting in Vienna. "Before such a meeting, one is, normally, already supposed to have a fixed timetable and the delegations should have already defined most of their negotiation positions," Kupchan said in an interview with the BBC, the agency reported. According to him, what is happening right now is the result of the collapse of the previous attempt to resolve the future status of the province, which failed because the Russian refusal. "Now we have a new attempt, but it is still not clear what the real goal of this new attempt is," said Kupchan, who added that in order to overcome the impasse in resolving Kosovo's status, "serious changes in the stands of main actors are required".

Belgrade receives Vienna invitation

A Priština Albanian-language daily reported earlier today, referring to the statement issued by the office of Kosovo President and head of the Priština negotiating team, Fatmir Sejdiu, that the Kosovo Albanian team had also received an invitation for the continued negotiations.

The format and agenda of the Vienna talks has not been revealed as yet, nor is this defined in the invitation, Zeri reported.

However, it was announced earlier that the mediating Troika of the EU, Russia and the United States, represented by Wolfgan Ischinger, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko and Frank Wisner, is likely to hold separate talks with the Belgrade and Priština delegations.

Also Thursday, before the arrival of the invitation was confirmed, Kosovo Minister Slobodan Samardžić said the fact Belgrade had not yet received one was "strange, given that the day was approaching."

He explained that Belgrade was still without a negotiation team formed for the talks, since the format of negotiations is unknown.

Samardžić also warned Wednesday, after talks with Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado that the Albanian side "will not accept constructive negotiations if hints keep being made about the future status of Kosovo."

"I have emphasized our stand that if hints keep being made about the final solution, as certain circles are doing, the negotiations will fail."

"The Albanian side will not accept constructive negotiations, we shall lose time and have to start all over again," he stressed.

In the meantime, Kosovo president Fatmir Sejdiu’s office issued a statement late Wednesday saying the Priština delegation “has just received the invitation for the meeting in the Austrian capital.”

Tanjug reported earlier today that Director of European Studies at the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington, Charles Kupchan, also qualified as "strange" the fact that Belgrade had not yet received an official invitation or the agenda of the first meeting in Vienna.

"Before such a meeting, one is, normally, already supposed to have a fixed timetable and the delegations should have already defined most of their negotiation positions," Kupchan said in an interview with the BBC, the agency reported.

According to him, what is happening right now is the result of the collapse of the previous attempt to resolve the future status of the province, which failed because the Russian refusal.

"Now we have a new attempt, but it is still not clear what the real goal of this new attempt is," said Kupchan, who added that in order to overcome the impasse in resolving Kosovo's status, "serious changes in the stands of main actors are required".