KOSOVO: U.S. OFFICIAL SAYS STATUS TALKS WILL START IN NOV

U.S. OFFICIAL SAYS STATUS TALKS WILL START IN NOV
The United States under-secretary of state for political affairs, Nicholas Burns, has ended his Balkans tour, announcing that talks on the final status of the southern Serbian province, which has been under United Nations control since 1999, would start in November and warned both sides - ethnic Albanians and Serbs - to refrain from using violence as a means to influence the outcome of the talks.

Following meetings in Pristina with ethnic Albanian leaders, who demand independence for Kosovo, Burns on Friday said that that the citizens of Kosovo had the right to decide their future and that Washington will be “very active in these talks”.

He added that the solution would be the one that will “allow all people in Kosovo to live together in peace” and that “the people of Kosovo have to make the decision”. This phrase was seen by political analysts as disturbing news for Belgrade, which opposes independence and is instead offering ethnic Albanians a large autonomy.
Ethnic Albanians in Kosovo number 1.7 million, against some 100.000 Serbs remaining in the province. Over 200,000 Serbs have fled the province since 1999, when a NATO bombing campaign drove out Belgrade's troops, who had been persecuting the Albanians.

Referring violence late last year when some ethnic Albanian went on a rampage, in which 19 people were killed and hundreds of Serbian homes and churches burned or destroyed, Burns underlined that there can be no solution if “Kosovo Serbs have no right to live here. We have now found ourselves in a position that we are essentially the protectors of the Serbian community in Kosovo and we don’t want to see anything that would scare them and prompt them to leave”, Burns said. The solution, in his words, must be a part of compromise, “in which there would be no winners, nor losers”.

Ethnic Albanian leaders, from President Ibrahim Rugova to Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi, welcomed the announcement on the beginning of status talks, but insisted that a deadline for their end should also be fixed, to “prevent obstruction”.

Burns wound up his Balkan tour with talks in Belgrade with Serbian President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who insisted on the respect for the UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which provides for Serbian sovereignty over Kosovo and a large autonomy for ethnic Albanians.

After the talks with Burns, Kostunica’s office said in a statement that the solution should be acceptable to both sides, based on the UN resolution. But the problem is that Pristina and Belgrade's positions were irreconcilable and ethnic Albanians have said they would settle for nothing short of independence and have threatened to resort to violence again to achieve their goal.

Kostunica said the problem “should be approached very carefully”, adding that the international community should bear in mind the “stability of the entire region” in seeking the solution. Belgrade has repeatedly warned that Kosovo independence would trigger similar demands by ethnic Albanians in Macedonia, northwest Greece and Montenegro, all of whihc have a a significantly sized ethnic Albanian minority.

Burns has said that his government would assist a special negotiator to be appointed by the United Nations, but would take no sides. Both proposals on the table, the independence and autonomy, will have equal consideration, he concluded.