French, U.S. ambassadors praise Priština

French, U.S. ambassadors praise Priština

The ambassadors are scheduled to meet with the Kosovo Serb officials later in the day.

New U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, said in Priština that Kosovo made “a lot of progress”, and that its status needs to be defined by a separate UN resolution.

“I think there was a lot of progress here. We have congratulated the officials on their success and a good job they did along with the international community representatives here,” Khalilzad was quoted.

Khalilzad also said it was important to bring the Kosovo status process to a successful conclusion.

“Ahtisaari has submitted his proposal, we need to make a decision about that plan in the coming weeks. Hence this visit and meetings with various communities,” he said.

France’s UN ambassador Jean Marc de La Sablier said he was impressed with Priština’s dedication and engagement in implementing the UN Kosovo envoy’s plan, “especially where it concerned minorities”.

Members of Kosovo negotiating team who met the visiting Security Council delegation today said they were satisfied with the talks, BIRN reports.

"We had a very successful meeting," said Agim Ceku, Kosovo's prime minister, just after the meeting.

"We presented our arguments that Kosovo is thinking, acting and functioning as a real state."

Fatmir Sejdiu, Kosovo's president, said that Albanian politicians told the 15-member delegation that Kosovo's independence will guarantee the stability of the entire region.

"We elaborated why Kosovo has to be independent and why there cannot be other solutions," said Sejdiu, adding that "after this visit, it is the time for Kosovo's status to be decided".

During its stay in the province, the mission will also visit Gračanica and northern Kosovo.

Belgrade proposes "supervised autonomy"

The mission on Thursday held separate meetings with Serbian prime minister Vojislav Koštunica and president Boris Tadić.

Following the meetings, Johan Verbeke, Belgian Ambassador to the UN and head of the mission, said at a press conference that “Serbian officials were far from making threats of violence.”

"We are on the eve of important decisions made by the Security Council," Verbeke said

"The council definitely wants to be fully informed so it can take aciont in regards to the heavy responsibility of the delicate issue of Kosovo. Even though our visit may come across as short, the UN security Council insisted it be balanced,” he said.

“I can confirm that Koštunica elaborated on his proposals regarding the concept of supervised autonomy for Kosovo,” he went on.

“We were also given a written document containing the model to take to New York for further consideration. It was very useful to gained proper insight into Serbia’s position on the subject,” Verbeke added.

Verbeke also said that the UN SC would reach a decision based on what was on the table.

“Ahtisaari’s plan is the proposal submitted to the Council for discussion. We have come here only to gather information. The UN Security Council will then decide on the matter in New York,” he said.

Verbeke also confirmed that the mission would not visit the administrative border between Kosovo and Serbia due to logistic problems and a lack of time, thus failing to meet with representatives of as many as 10,000 displaced Kosovo Serbs who gathered there.

“We are aware of the urgency of that issue, but you have to understand the logistical problems of such a visit,” he said.

The UN Security Council ambassadors met with first prime minister Vojislav Koštunica who explained in detail Serbia’s position in the negotiations, and submitted a proposal for substantial autonomy.

The mission then talked to president Boris Tadić who reiterated that a substantial autonomy for the province would be the best solution for Kosovo.

Tadić said, according to his advisor Dušan Bataković, that Ahtisaari’s plan was not a compromise and called for the resumption of the negotiation process.

Bataković added that Tadić stressed the importance of a full implementation of UN resolution 1244, which has been violated “on several occasions.”

“The president insisted that talks resume in order to find a sustainable solution in the context of a supervised autonomy for the province that would enable reconciliation of Serbs and Albanians, with an appropriate degree of self-rule given to the ethnic Albanians,” Bataković said.