Talks to determine Kosovo's future should start by year's end, U.N. official says

Associated Press, Aug 23, 2005 1:45 PM

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro-Kosovo's U.N. administrator said Tuesday that talks to determine this disputed province's future should not be delayed and should start by the year's end. The Serbian prime minister rejected such proposals.

"I do not see any gains in delaying status talks," warned Soren Jessen-Petersen, the top U.N. official in the province. He said the next three months in Kosovo are the "most crucial months in this crucial year."

Kosovo has been disputed between the province's ethnic Albanian majority, which want full independence, and Serb minority and Serbia, which insist the province remain part of Serbia-Montenegro, the union that replaced Yugoslavia.

Talks to determine its future depend on the province's ability to meet internationally set standards on democracy, rule of law and civil rights for the Serb minority.

Another U.N. envoy, Kai Eide, appointed in June by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to review progress, said Monday that more work is needed to improve tense relations between Kosovo's ethnic Albanians and Serbs before talks can begin.

Serbia's prime minister told Eide in Belgrade on Tuesday that talks on the contested province's future status cannot start before civil right of minority Kosovo Serbs are protected.

Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica "expressed fear that the international community is abandoning its proclaimed 'standards before status' policy" for Kosovo, the government said in a statement issued after his talks with Eide. "Our side is not happy with this."

Kosovo has been administered by the U.N. and patrolled by NATO-led peacekeepers since a 78-day alliance-led air war that halted a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in 1999.

Ethnic tensions in Kosovo remain high six years after the end of the conflict. About 100,000 minority Serbs mostly live in isolated enclaves, fearing attacks from ethnic Albanians extremists.

Jessen-Petersen said Kosovo needs to focus on minority rights, the economy and reform of local government in the coming months before Annan can appoint an envoy to mediate between Kosovo's ethnic Albanians and Serbia.