Serbs, ethnic Albanians resume Kosovo talks

Associated Press, Tuesday, July 18, 2006 5:41 AM

VIENNA, Austria-Ethnic Albanian and Serbian officials met Tuesday for a new round of negotiations on Kosovo's postwar status, focusing on the protection of Serbian Orthodox religious sites and the creation of Serb-run municipalities.

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

Tuesday's talks again focused on issues where little progress was made in the early rounds of discussion. 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.

"We will not back off from our positions presented during previous talks about our religious and cultural heritage," said Sanda Raskovic-Ivic, a Serb negotiator and government official responsible for Kosovo.

Serbs consider Kosovo to be central to their history and culture, and important Serbian religious and historical 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 and on protection zones that would be guarded by international peacekeepers.

Under the deal, Serbian Orthodox dioceses in Kosovo would have the right to maintain special ties with the patriarchate in Belgrade and would also enjoy tax privileges, freedom of movement and the right to run other affairs.

"We believe that the economic sustainability of monasteries depends on the protection of their assets," said Dusan Batakovic, a Serb negotiator.

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.

Raskovic-Ivic has said that the Serbian delegation will ask for 13 new municipalities in addition to the existing five. "I don't know how many we will get," she said.

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 are scheduled for July 24.

"We are ready to talk on that or any other day," said Skender Hyseni, a Kosovo Albanian negotiator.