EU: Limited independence for Kosovo

EU: Limited independence for Kosovo

Petritsch rejected the idea of an ethnic partition and said the union will play a major role in containing ethnic violence in the southern Serbian province.

Wolfgang Petritsch is the former EU chief negotiator at the Kosovo peace talks in Rambouillet and the former UN High Representative for Bosnia.

EU administrators are set to replace a U.N. civil mission that was deployed in Kosovo in 1999 to curb ethnic violence.

U.N. special envoy to Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari is expected to announce his proposal of a solution to Kosovo in early February.

After additional talks among the parties concerned, including the United States and Russia, a draft solution to Kosovo's future status will be submitted to the U.N. Security Council for approval in March or April.