Albanians refuse to grant safety to Christian sites in Kosovo

SERBIANNA (USA), July 18, 2006 12:10 PM

VIENNA, Austria-Ethnic Albanian and Serbian negotiators failed Tuesday to finalize an agreement on the protection of Serbian Orthodox religious sites in Kosovo, officials said.

It was the seventh time that both sides have met in Vienna this year for U.N.-mediated negotiations, which aim to determine whether Kosovo remains part of Serbia or becomes independent.

"We will sit with the experts to work on a compromise," a U.N.-appointed mediator, Petr Ivantsov, said after the meeting, which deadlocked over the protected perimeters around 39 Serbian Orthodox religious sites in Kosovo.

Albanian representatives suggested the Serbs were at fault. Ylber Hysa, the head of the ethnic Albanian delegation, said "the Serbian side was not at all open" to compromise.

Kosovo's minority Serbs, whose communities have been attacked by ethnic Albanians several times since the end of the war, want guarantees that their religious and cultural sites will be protected. They also want more say in running their own affairs.

Serbian negotiator Slobodan Samardzic was less critical. "We did not expect marvelous results ... this is a part of a process," he said.

Serbs consider Kosovo to be central to their history and culture, and important Serbian religious and historic sites are located there. In March 2004, more than 30 medieval churches and monasteries were destroyed or damaged in anti-Serb riots.

In late May, the two delegations reached a tentative agreement on the protection of Serbian Orthodox religious sites, leading to hopes that this round would be able to work out some details.

Under the deal, Serbian Orthodox dioceses in Kosovo would have the right to maintain special ties with the patriarchate in Belgrade and would also enjoytax privileges, freedom of movement and the right to run other affairs. Ivantsov said that details about these issues were on the agenda, but that the negotiators focused on protected areas.

Tension between the two communities has remained high since the end of the war between Serb forces and ethnic Albanian separatists.

The province officially remains part of Serbia, although it has been run by a U.N. administration and patrolled by international peacekeepers since a 1999 NATO aerial bombardment halted the Serb military crackdown.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority insists on full independence, but Belgrade wants to retain some control over the province.

A separate negotiating session on Serbian self-rule in the province is scheduled for Wednesday.

On Monday, Kosovo's ethnic Albanian negotiators announced they will consider increasing the number of new Serb municipalities to give the province's
minority more rights in running its affairs.

The Serbian delegation will ask for 13 new municipalities in addition to the existing five.

Ethnic Albanians make up about 90 percent of Kosovo's population of 2 million. Some 200,000 Serbs fled the province after Serb troops were driven out by the 78-day NATO bombardment.

The first top-level direct talks to address the province's status, independence or some Serb control, are scheduled for July 24.

The Kosovo Albanian delegation has confirmed that it would participate in the talks. Serbian negotiator Leon Kojen said however that top Serbian officials in Belgrade were still awaiting a "proper invitation."

"When we get one we will decide," he said, but refused to elaborate.

A Serbian negotiator, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, has said that the key stumbling point was the apparent "lack of agenda and unclear methodology of talks." He said that the Serbian delegation has met the top U.N. mediator Marti Ahtisaari early on Tuesday, but that the meeting "produced little results."