Brussels, 20/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - Serbia and Albanian Kosovars will have to come forward with “new ideas and proposals” during the direct talks to be held in New York on 28 September, said the three members, including Wolfgang Ischinger of the European Union, of the international troika on the status of Kosovo on Wednesday 19 September. The troika, made up of the EU, the United States and Russia, held separate meetings with the Serbian and Kosovar delegations in London on 18-19 September, but with no tangible results. Hopes now rest with direct contact between the Belgrade and Pristina leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly next week. There, “the two camps will have to present new and original ideas and make realistic proposals,” said the troika in a press release published after “constructive” talks in London.
Officially, the EU still wants to believe in a negotiated solution, but, internally, is actively considering the consequences if the talks are not successful before 10 December (when the troika has to report to the UN). “I believe that there is a possibility of finding such an agreement. The chances are slim, but they exist. We will leave no stone unturned to reach an agreement,” said Ischinger in London on Wednesday. He did not wish to give a detailed response on whether or not the Ahtisaari plan (independence for Kosovo under international supervision) was still on the agenda.
With Russia, a close ally of Serbia, refusing to consider 10 December as the final deadline for finding a negotiated and UN-approved solution, the United States fears hostilities in Kosovo if a decision on its status were to drag on too long. “We take the work of the troika very seriously, but everyone has to understand that it cannot be an endless process,” US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Kramer told journalists in Brussels on 19 September. “The patience of the Kosovars will run out …Our concern is that an endless process would lead to hostilities and instability”. The Americans and Europeans “share the same opinion,” Kramer said, following talks with high-ranking officials in the Commission, Council and NATO. Although Kramer did not wish to “speculate” on what the consequences would be if the negotiations failed to produce a result by 10 December, it seems likely that Washington would support any unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo. Kramer also acknowledged that the Kosovo issue could have a serious effect on “already very complicated” relations with Russia. (hb)