Brussels, 20/11/2007 (Agence Europe) - Given the very minimum chances of still being able to reach a negotiated settlement on Kosovo, and given the opposition from Russia to independence of the Serbian province, the EU no longer believes that a resolution from the UN Security Council is indispensable for defining Kosovo's future status or deployment conditions of its future civil police mission in the field. Addressing the press at the end of the External Relations Council (EUROPE 9546), the High Representative for the CFSP, Javier Solana, declared: “The European Union's preference has always been having a Security Council resolution. But we cannot have a Security Council decision if there is no agreement between its members. Even without an agreement (at the Security Council), life will go on. It's not the end of the world”. He stressed that the EU should, “in any case”, support the stabilisation process in Kosovo with its future civil police mission. Solana explained that even without a Security Council resolution (which would clash with the Russian veto) “I think we will find a solution in accordance with international law. There are possibilities that we will discuss with the secretary general of the UN in the next few days”. Mr Solana added that whatever the legal structure finally decided, “the EU wants to be in the front line of support for stabilisation in Kosovo”.
In the event of a universal declaration of independence by Kosovo after 10 December (end of negotiations between Serbs and Albanian Kosovars), will the EU be able to speak with a single voice? On Monday evening, Luis Amado, the Portuguese foreign affairs minister and current president of the Council affirmed: “We are going to try everything to obtain consensus (between the EU27) on questions that are complex and so important to the question of peace in Europe”. He said that the Portuguese presidency would fight “till the end” to reach this consensus. Amado asserted that EU27 member state support for the EU position would be a “stabilising factor” for Kosovo and the whole of the Balkans but played things down, adding, “if this were not the case, it would not be the end of the world” and that they should not “dramatise” such a scenario even though the situation was difficult. At this stage, according to diplomats, around 20 member states would be prepared to recognise the independence of Kosovo. Some of the countries that have most reservations about it are: Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Slovakia and Romania.
Whatever happens, the EU will only define its position after the submission of the UN Troika report on 10 December (Ed: the External Relations Council will take place on the same day in Brussels). By then, the EU would still like to think a negotiated settlement is possible. Conclusions from Monday's Council reaffirm the EU's support for the negotiations process and its Troika representative, Wolfgang Ischinger. The Council was even delighted by the stepping up of negotiations. It called on the two parties to show greater “flexibility” and do everything to find a negotiated settlement.
No breakthrough at meeting of Serbs and Albanian Kosovars in Brussels
Under the auspices of the international troika, the president of Serbia, Boris Takic, and the prime minister of Serbia, Vojislav Kostunica, held new talks in Brussels with the leaders of Kosovo, including separatist Hashim Thaci, who won the general elections last weekend. The Serbs again called for an autonomous Kosovo but without full independence, respecting Serbia's territorial integrity. Belgrade suggested various alternatives for Kosovo, like the status granted to Hong Kong, which has broad autonomy within China. But all their suggestions were rejected by the Albanian Kosovars. Thaci said the idea put forward by Serbia of a Hong Kong solution is not feasible. The Cypriot model would also not be possible for Kosovo, no more than the suggestions of a federation or confederation with Serbia. None of the ideas put forward hold water, he said. Thaci repeated his view on Tuesday that the only feasible option was independence but he promised not to do anything without Kosovo's partners, Washington and Brussels, thereby indicating that he had heard the appeal on Monday by EU foreign ministers (see yesterday's Europe). On Tuesday afternoon, the Troika looked at submitting a further option to the talks, but did not hold out high hopes. The new option was a cooperation agreement to govern relations between Kosovo and Serbia, leaving open the question of the province's final status. Wolfgang Ischinger said it was an agreement inspired from the Gundlagenvertrag that the Federal Republic of Germany (the old West Germany) signed with the Democratic Republic of Germany (the old East Germany) in 1972. (H.B.)