09 December 2006

Belgrade, Pristina to receive Ahtisaari's decision on Kosovo status end of January

Serbian Press Agency SRNA, Bijeljina, 11-11-2006 20:19:58

BELGRADE, November 11 - US special envoy for Kosovo status Frank Wisner has said that Pristina and Belgrade will receive the decision of UN mediator Martti Ahtisaari on the future status of Kosovo at the end of January next year.

"There will be no further delays in status resolution and after the elections Ahtisaari will give his proposal to Pristina and Belgrade," said Wisner in an interview for Radio Television 21 from Pristina.

He emphasized that a very important phase of negotiations had been reached, which are now reaching conclusion and that a decision will be achieved very soon.

"I know that the decision on status will be in accordance with the expectations of the majority in Kosovo. These are legitimate aspirations which the US supports. The US has been in Kosovo for eight years already and we believe that Kosovo deserves to decide on its own future," said the US official.

Wisner welcomed the reaction of the Kosovo negotiating team to Ahtisaari's decision to delay publicizing the solution. "The Kosovo negotiating team is determined to cooperate with Ahtisaari and the international community and we must all support them," he added.

The negotiating team from Pristina emphasized on Friday that it is deeply convinced that the process of resolving Kosovo's status which is being headed by Ahtisaari and the Contact Group will lead toward the creation of an independent and sovereign state of Kosovo, in accordance with the political will of the people of Kosovo.