Rupel: Kosovo talks in August

Rupel: Kosovo talks in August

A decision on this will be adopted in Vienna today, as the Contact Group meets for the first meeting after the failure of talks at the UN Security Council.

"According to my information, negotiations should start soon, I expect them to begin in August," Rupel said in Brussels, where he partook in a meeting of EU foreign ministers, the state STA agency carried.

The trio should help define the agenda and conditions for the negotiations, because the topic of the negotiations has not yet been set, but it will not have a mandate to prepare documents, as UN special envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari had.

Rupel added that the EU, U.S., Russian trio would be represented by diplomats most probably on the ambassadorial level, who are already active within the Contact Group.

Two possible candidates are being mentioned in Brussels—a diplomat working for EU senior foreign policy representative Javier Solana from Britain, Robert Cooper, and EU special envoy for Kosovo Stefan Lehne.

Most EU members offered support for the proposed format the talks should take, but have not shown unity on the issue of Kosovo’s independence.

While the UK and the Scandinavian counties back the U.S. position on the province’s inevitable independence, some, like Spain, Cyprus, Greece, Slovakia and Romania, warn that such an outcome would constitute for a dangerous precedent.

UN urges clear roadmap for Kosovo

UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker called on major powers on Wednesday to set a clear roadmap to the final status of Kosovo, whose independence bid is blocked by Russia, Reuters reported from Priština.

Ruecker told journalists on his return from Brussels that he had warned the European Union of the dangers of further delaying a decision the people of Kosovo had been led to expect by last October, after nearly eight years under UN rule.

"I stressed that there is a lot of anxiety and tension and people need and deserve clarity on status and also on the status process," Ruecker said.

"It will be very helpful if we would have something like roadmap or timetable on the way forward, something more than just an announcement of the time of engagement," Ruecker said.

U.S. envoy Frank Wisner told Kosovo's Express daily that as far as Washington was concerned, the new round of talks "are set for 120 days, so don't expect endless discussions".

Wisner said the new round of negotiations led by the Contact Group "will be an important last chapter, where all sides can put their thoughts on the table".

He said Washington still backed Ahtisaari's plan and added: "We don't want a deadline, but the solution must be quick."

"Based on last week's experience, I simply don't think it (a return to Security Council) would be a useful path," Wisner said.