(27/02/2006) KOSOVO FINAL STATUS TALKS BEGIN. (Balkan Watch)

• 2006-03-13
• Europa in de wereld

UN officials have noted that the Kosovo final status talks in Vienna began and will resume in March. The parties have preliminarily agreed that final status itself will be discussed later in the talks, with the parties working on smaller issues in the interim.

UN envoy and mediator Martti Ahtisaari described this process as a “bottom-up approach.” Austrian diplomat Albert Rohan described the initial talks as being conducted in a “very cooperative spirit.” The parties met and discussed a number of smaller-level issues, talking through various options and hearing different proposals. Rohan noted that the talks could have started out with a discussion on the formal political status of Kosovo; however, the “talks would end after two hours.”

Prior to the talks, Kosovo Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi and Serbia and Montenegro President Boris Tadic attended a session of the UN Security Council in which both commented on their positions regarding the status of Kosovo. Tadic supported “wide autonomy” for Kosovo, so long as it remains a part of Serbia and Montenegro. Kosumi, on the other hand, supports an independent Kosovo, separate from Serbia and Montenegro. UNMIK chief Soren Jessen-Petersen suggested that Kosovo Albanians need to continue their efforts to improve the treatment of minorities, especially protecting and promoting the rights of a small population of Serbs numbering around 80,000.

Hua Jiang, Ahtisaari’s spokesperson, commented that the aim of the entire process is to promote the rights of minorities and safety. She noted that the goal is a truly multiethnic Kosovo. A member of the Serbian delegation, Slobodan Samardzic, suggested that Serbs be given self-rule in areas where they are a majority, allowing them to control their own health care, education, courts, police, and social services. Kosovo Albanian officials, however, are fearful that this wide degree of localized autonomy could potentially create de facto partition of Kosovo, separating the Serbs from the Albanians.

The Contact Group, consisting of delegates from the United States, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, and Great Britain have claimed that partitioning Kosovo is not a viable option for its future, thought they have done nothing to end Belgrade’s control over northern Kosovo since the end of the war in 1999. Nor have they commented on the degree to which localized autonomy will be viable before it becomes a detrimental partition.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also commented that the solution reached for Kosovo could be applied as a model for Moscow to use in its own separatist conflicts, including Chechnya, and conflicts under the Russian sphere of influence, such as in Moldova and Georgia. Nonetheless, the negotiations in Kosovo will have an important impact on the future of minority rights and separatist movements around the world. The talks will resume in Vienna on March 17.