Kosovo mediating Troika to meet in Vienna

The International mediating Troika will meet in Vienna today to discuss the Kosovo negotiating process. According to Tanjug, Wolfgang Ischinger, Frank Wisner and Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko will hold a closed-doors meeting to discuss the talks scheduled to continue on November 5 in Vienna. Kosovo mediating Troika to meet in Vienna The Troika, according to earlier reports, are expected to present the Belgrade and Pristina negotiators with a new document, including alterations made to the 14-point draft proposal submitted at the last round of talks. This new document will be based on the complaints and reservations the teams had with the original. EU representative to the Troika Ischinger said that the report, to be submitted to the UN Secretary General on December 10, would include a specific proposal for Kosovo’s future status. “The Troika report will contain a precise name for the proposal and will clearly define relations between Serbia and Kosovo,“ he told Kosovo TV. Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado said that the EU was due to adopt a common position on the province’s future status in the next few days. “We have to do everything we can by December 10 to reach a consensus on what would be the ideal solution,“ Amada told a Portuguese newspaper yesterday, reports Pristina daily Zeri. The Contact Group mediating Troika (Beta, archive) “Freeze status for 12 years“ The State Department is considering an idea to freeze Kosovo’s status for the next 12 years, based on the Hong Kong model, according to press reports today from Pristina. The idea is that a referendum on status would be held on January 5, 2020, said another Kosovo daily, Express, on its front page, quoting an unnamed U.S. official. By then, the paper claims, Kosovo would have received billions of euros worth of financial assistance to help accelerate its integration within the EU. Serbia for a clear refusal of independence Serbia cannot accept any documents, including the Troika’s 14-point proposal, that do not clearly reject the possibility of unilaterally proclaimed and recognized independence for Kosovo, said Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic. “After December 10, we cannot be left in a position where the Kosovo Albanians can proclaim independence and then say that doing so does not contradict the 14 points. Once the threat of unilateral action has been removed, we will be flexible and whole-hearted in the negotiating process,” Jeremic told daily Blic. Jeremic said that he would like to see a compromise by December 10, but that it might not be realistic at this point, adding that the threat of unilateral decisions hampered the process greatly and made efforts to find a compromise even harder.

Kosovo mediating Troika to meet in Vienna

The Troika, according to earlier reports, are expected to present the Belgrade and Priština negotiators with a new document, including alterations made to the 14-point draft proposal submitted at the last round of talks. This new document will be based on the complaints and reservations the teams had with the original.

EU representative to the Troika Ischinger said that the report, to be submitted to the UN Secretary General on December 10, would include a specific proposal for Kosovo’s future status.

“The Troika report will contain a precise name for the proposal and will clearly define relations between Serbia and Kosovo,“ he told Kosovo TV.

Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado said that the EU was due to adopt a common position on the province’s future status in the next few days.

“We have to do everything we can by December 10 to reach a consensus on what would be the ideal solution,“ Amada told a Portuguese newspaper yesterday, reports Priština daily Zeri.

“Freeze status for 12 years“

The State Department is considering an idea to freeze Kosovo’s status for the next 12 years, based on the Hong Kong model, according to press reports today from Priština.

The idea is that a referendum on status would be held on January 5, 2020, said another Kosovo daily, Express, on its front page, quoting an unnamed U.S. official.

By then, the paper claims, Kosovo would have received billions of euros worth of financial assistance to help accelerate its integration within the EU.

Serbia for a clear refusal of independence

Serbia cannot accept any documents, including the Troika’s 14-point proposal, that do not clearly reject the possibility of unilaterally proclaimed and recognized independence for Kosovo, said Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić.

“After December 10, we cannot be left in a position where the Kosovo Albanians can proclaim independence and then say that doing so does not contradict the 14 points. Once the threat of unilateral action has been removed, we will be flexible and whole-hearted in the negotiating process,” Jeremić told daily Blic.

Jeremić said that he would like to see a compromise by December 10, but that it might not be realistic at this point, adding that the threat of unilateral decisions hampered the process greatly and made efforts to find a compromise even harder.