Negotiators deadlocked over Kosovo

Negotiators deadlocked over Kosovo

"On the status issue ... nothing has indicated that the parties will be moving in different directions", Ahtisaari added.

He also said a final round of talks in Vienna between the rival sides had begun in a conciliatory mood, but he cautioned that both remained far apart on their positions.

"The parties have not moved closer to a point of compromise — we are still facing the same realities," Ahtisaari told a press conference adding that the negotiating sides should draw a line between the status-defining elements and the remaining aspects of his document.

“If you take a close look at the text, two thirds of the content focuses on improving the conditions for non-Albanian communities in Kosovo”, Ahtisaari explained.

Ahtisaari’s spokesperson Remi Dourlot announced the second and last press conference for March 2.

The UN Special Envoy unveiled his proposal on February 2 omitting the use of the word ‘independence’ in the text, but allowing the province statehood trappings and the right to apply for membership in international institutions.

Ahtisaari also said his final version of the Kosovo status plan would be drawn out in detail and forwarded to the UN Security Council following the talks in Vienna.

The state team issued a statement following the beginning of the talks in Vienna, in which it says that the Serbian side offered alternative solutions based on the concept of internationally guaranteed essential autonomy within Serbia’s state borders.

The Belgrade negotiating team rejected all elements of Ahtisaari’s plan that run against the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia.

Leon Kojen and Slobodan Samaržić, the team coordinators, underscored that only unlimited negotiations can lead to a genuine agreement and a preservation of regional stability.

The Belgrade team is ready for a compromise in regards to the Kosovo status issue, as given in the statement.

Priština negotiating team member Veton Surroi said that the Serbian representatives presented proposals that opposed the essence of Ahtisaari’s draft plan.

“Serbia wants to administer Kosovo as if it were its autonomous province, which is the actual reason behind the conflict”, Surroi said at a press conference that marked the end of today’s talks.

Ahead of the talks

Veton Surroi, an ethnic Albanian leader in front of Kosovo's delegation, said earlier that his team would not seek any major changes to Ahtisaari's plan.

"For us, this chapter has ended and the book is closed," Surroi said.

He said the ethnic Albanian side "will in no way change the structure" of the plan, and was determined to "preserve its spine and the shape given to it by Mr. Ahtisaari."

But chief Serb negotiator Slobodan Samardžić underscored Serbia's fierce claims to Kosovo as the heart of its historic homeland and said his delegation would present "completely alternative proposals" to the draft.

Ahtisaari's plan "completely disregards Serbia's sovereignty and integrity as well as national and international law," Samardžić said.