Six-nation Contact Group holds talks on Kosovo's future

DPA, Jan 16, 2006, 19:00 GMT

 

Vienna - The six-nation Contact Group that monitors and supervises international policy on Kosovo held consultations on the former Yugoslavian province at the German embassy in Vienna on Monday, an embassy spokesman said.

 

He said it was a \'closed session\', for which the embassy had only provided the rooms. No press conferences or other public statements were planned.

 

The Contact Group consists of the United States, Russia, Britain, France, Germany and Italy.

 

At the weekend, the Belgrade news agency Tanjug reported, quoting the German Foreign Ministry, that the talks on Monday would deal with the present situation in Kosovo, and the process to determine the future status of the province.

 

Kosovo has been under U.N. administration since 1999.

 

Those taking part in the deliberations included the U.N. envoy on the status of Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, and the head of the U.N. administration (UNMIK) in the province, Soren Jessen-Petersen.

 

Ahtisaari was expected to brief the meeting about his talks so far in the Serbian and Kosovan capitals, and planned further steps.

 

The envoy was also expected to give a briefing about the new U.N. Kosovo bureau in Vienna, which started work on January 9.

 

The first direct meeting between representatives of Belgrade and Pristina is due in the Austrian capital on January 25.

 

The U.N. Kosovo mediators face a highly delicate task, as the interests of the two sides are diametrically opposed.

 

Pristina wants independence for Kosovo and excludes any other possibility.

 

Belgrade equally rejects independence, and says it is prepared at the most for far-reaching autonomy for Kosovo, while at the same time preserving the territorial integrity of Serbia.