“Agreement would have been reached, if possible”

Daniel Serwer of the U.S. Institute of Peace says an extension of the Kosovo status talk is unlikely. Serwer said that the negotiations held thus far between Belgrade and Pristina had not given any results, and that further postponement of a status solution could lead to instability in the region. “Agreement would have been reached, if possible” Serwer told Voice of America that the Kosovo Albanians would not proclaim independence unilaterally, but in cooperation with the international community. “In this way, a good number of European countries would join Washington in recognizing Kosovo independence, and other countries, I hope, those that border Kosovo, will do the same thing,” Server said, adding that the independence plan would be an implementation of UN Envoy Martti Ahtisaari’s proposal. Regarding Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s claim that the U.S.’s insistence on independence made efforts for finding a compromise harder than it would otherwise have been, Serwer said that “if a compromise existed, it would have been found.” “It is impossible to reach a compromise between two sovereignties on one territory, Serbia’s and the Kosovo Albanians’, and I don’t see a way of Serbia establishing sovereignty over the territory again,” Serwer said. “The day the majority of European countries accept Kosovo independence, there will be a stable situation, anything else would provoke negative reactions from the Kosovo Albanians. So it is important to clear up the question of sovereignty,” he added. He said that Washington saw independence as the only solution for Kosovo that would lead to stability in the region, adding that “the right of a sovereign country such as the U.S. to recognize another sovereign country cannot be denied.” “I think it would be a lot better to reach the decision in the UN Security Council based on the Ahtisaari plan, with the protection of the Serb minority. In any case, Belgrade will no longer dictate to Washington what states it can and cannot recognize,” Serwer said.

“Agreement would have been reached, if possible”

Serwer told Voice of America that the Kosovo Albanians would not proclaim independence unilaterally, but in cooperation with the international community.

“In this way, a good number of European countries would join Washington in recognizing Kosovo independence, and other countries, I hope, those that border Kosovo, will do the same thing,” Server said, adding that the independence plan would be an implementation of UN Envoy Martti Ahtisaari’s proposal.

Regarding Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s claim that the U.S.’s insistence on independence made efforts for finding a compromise harder than it would otherwise have been, Serwer said that “if a compromise existed, it would have been found.”

“It is impossible to reach a compromise between two sovereignties on one territory, Serbia’s and the Kosovo Albanians’, and I don’t see a way of Serbia establishing sovereignty over the territory again,” Serwer said.

“The day the majority of European countries accept Kosovo independence, there will be a stable situation, anything else would provoke negative reactions from the Kosovo Albanians. So it is important to clear up the question of sovereignty,” he added.

He said that Washington saw independence as the only solution for Kosovo that would lead to stability in the region, adding that “the right of a sovereign country such as the U.S. to recognize another sovereign country cannot be denied.”

“I think it would be a lot better to reach the decision in the UN Security Council based on the Ahtisaari plan, with the protection of the Serb minority. In any case, Belgrade will no longer dictate to Washington what states it can and cannot recognize,” Serwer said.