Washington - Moving forward with a UN plan for Kosovo's
political future is the key to stabilizing the breakaway Serb
province, even though Serb leaders and Russia oppose it, a US
diplomat said Monday.
US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried's comments came as a
UN envoy puts the final touches on a proposal to place Kosovo on a
path toward independence, the goal of majority ethnic Albanians.
Powers involved in Kosovo diplomacy - the so-called contact group
comprising Russia, Germany, France, the US, Italy and Britain - want
a resolution, Fried told reporters after a trip to the region.
'I think after eight years, the overwhelming sense in the contact
group, certainly in the US government, is that the people of Kosovo
need clarity,' he said. 'Delay is not going to bring more stability.'
He urged Serbian leaders to accept a solution for Kosovo that
'keeps open a European future for Serbia,' a reference to the
prospect of eventual European Union membership.
Serb and ethnic Albanian negotiators broke up without agreement
Saturday after the final round of UN-sponsored talks on Kosovo's
status in Vienna, Austria. UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari is expected to
present his plan to the UN Security Council in late March.
Armed extremists on both sides can be expected to stage
'provocations,' Fried said. But the 'orderly well-managed process'
foreseen in Ahtisaari's plan 'is far preferable to stalemate,
deadlock, dithering,' he said.
'This is the Balkans. People have guns. People have guns at home,'
Fried said.
The UN plan calls for internationally monitored independence for
Kosovo with far-reaching guarantees for the Serb minority. Russia
opposes the plan, which is strongly backed by the EU and the US.
However, Russia's Foreign Ministry said last month it does not
intend to veto the plan in the Security Council.
A 16,000-strong NATO-led force that helps enforce peace between
Serbs and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo 'will stay there as long as it's
needed,' subject to periodic review, Fried said.
Kosovo has been a de-facto UN protectorate since NATO airstrikes
on former Yugoslavia ousted Serbian security forces and
paramilitaries from the province in 1999.
NATO's 79-day air war followed fighting between Serb forces and
Kosovo rebels, which escalated into forced expulsions and killings of
ethnic Albanians. Several thousand people died and some 1 million
ethnic Albanians, about half of Kosovo's population, fled during the
clashes and the air war.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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