UN ENVOY DISAPPOINTED AT PROGRESS IN KOSOVO

ADN KRONOS INTERNATIONAL (ITALY) 22-Aug-05 15:12

Belgrade 22 August (AKI) - United Nations special envoy to the troubled Muslim-majority province of Kosovo, Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide, said on Monday he is disappointed with the achievements made in implementing democratic and human rights standards in the province, but expressed the hope that "constructive progress" could still be made before talks onKosovo's final status. Although legally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been under UN administration since 1999.

"It is indispensable to achieve a greater degree of progress not only in multi-ethnic relations, but also in the rule of law," Eide said after his third round of talks with Serbian leaders in Belgrade. Eide has been appointed by the UN secretary general Kofi Annan to assess the situation in Kosovo, and to submit a report to the Security Council by the end of September.

Kosovo's 1.5 million majority ethnic Albanian community has grown impatient over the length of time it is taking to decide on Kosovo's future status. Clashes between Albanians and ethnic Serbs in March 2004 left 19 people dead. Some 80,000 Serbs have remained in the province - one of Europe's poorest regions - since the ethnic conflict there in the late 1990s. The Serbian minority lives in separate areas watched over by NATO peacekeepers.

Depending on Eide's findings, the international community was planning to open talks on the final status of the province, whose majority ethnic Albanians demand independence, which Belgrade opposes. After talks with foreign minister Vuk Draskovic, Eide said that despite his disappointment his final report might contain more positive appraisals if a move forward was noted in the meantime. He also talked with Serbian president Boris Tadic and prime minister Vojislav Kostunica.

Eide previously held talks with ethnic Albanian and Serb leaders in Kosovo and on what was believed to be his final visit to Belgrade before preparing his report, expressed regrets that Kosovo Serbs continued to boycott Kosovo's local institutions and the parliament. He said he would like to see a more "constructive role from Belgrade" in persuading Kosovo Serbs to take part in the institutions.

Vojislav Kostunica's government urged Kosovo Serbs to boycott last October's parliamentary elections, because the international community rejected his proposal to grant Serbs local self-rule, with their own police and administration.

The UN peackeeping force in Kosovo (UNMIK) and Kosovo's provisional government instead came up with am alternative plan, proposing a pilot program of ethnically mixed municipalities, which Serbs rejected.

Kosovo's prime minister Bajram Kosumi said in an interview with Radio Free Europe on Monday that the Serb proposal would further increase their isolation, while his plan aimed at creating multi-ethnic municipalities was intended to allow areas "where Serbs and Albanians can live together".

Kosumi said he was ready to talk to Belgrade on all issues still open, but added that ethnic Albanians would not renounce the idea of independence and that the international community, not Belgrade, can play a role in it. "The independence of Kosovo will not be a subject in negotiations with Belgrade", he concluded.