05 May 2007

SANU issues works on Kosovo

B92, 4 February 2007 12:01

BELGRADE -- The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Art (SANU) published a collection "Kosovo-Metohija - Past, Present, Future".

The government statement says the essays, available in English at SANU's official website

have been collected from an international meeting held in March last year in Belgrade.

The 39 papers by domestic and foreign authors are said to be "analyzing the Albanian impact on the destabilisation of the Balkans, the position of Kosovo within Serbia and Yugoslavia, Albanian secessionism in 1990, Serb and Montenegrin migrations from the province and the Kosovo population under the Ottoman Empire".

U.S. warns citizens to be cautious in Kosovo

Agence France Presse (English) - February 2, 2007 Friday 12:59 PM GMT

 

PRISTINA, Serbia, Feb 2 2007 - The United States' diplomatic mission in Kosovo on Friday issued a warning to its citizens to be cautious during ongoing efforts to settle the future status of the disputed Serbian province.

 

"The next several weeks will see a number of important political events in Kosovo, including the possibility of demonstrations and other public manifestations," it said in a statement.

 

It said US citizens in Kosovo, whose ethnic Albanian majority wants the province to become independence, should maintain a high level of vigilance since any demonstrations could become confrontational and possible escalate into violence.

 

"American citizens are therefore urged to avoid roadblocks and areas of demonstrations or where large crowds are gathered, if possible, and to exercise caution if within the vicinity of any demonstrations."

 

United Nations envoy Martti Ahtisaari on Friday presented his anxiously awaited proposal to resolve Kosovo's status to the Serbian authorities in Belgrade. He was to due to submit it to the Kosovar authorities in Pristina later in the day.

 

The southern Serbian province has been run by a UN mission since 1999, when NATO ended a crackdown by Serbian forces on Kosovo's nascent independence movement.

 

Ethnic Albanians, who make up about 90 percent of Kosovo's population of two million, have been pushing for independence. Belgrade staunchly opposes this demand, offering instead to give Kosovo broad autonomy.

Bosnian speaker says Kosovo independence to set international precedent - daily

BBC Monitoring International Reports - January 27, 2007, Saturday

Text of report by Serbian TV satellite service on 27 January

[Presenter] [Bosnian] Serb Republic parliamentary Speaker Igor Radojicic has pointed out that Kosmet [Kosovo-Metohija] was not just an internal issue for Serbia, even though it directly involves Belgrade.

This issue could set a precedence in international relations and have an effect on regional stability and internal relations in a number of countries, Radojicic said in an interview for [Banja Luka-based daily] Glas Srpske.

He said that any unilateral recognition of Kosovo's independence or the attempt to impose independence on a territory which has never been a state would certainly open up similar issues throughout Europe.

Reaching or imposing a solution which would be in the interest of Kosmet and [ethnic] Albanians would in fact be a reward for the non-implementation of the peace plan, Radojicic said.

Source: RTS SAT TV, Belgrade, in Serbian 1400 gmt 27 Jan 07

Kosovo: Serb woman stabbed, unease spreads among Serbs

BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - February 2, 2007 Friday

Text of report by Serbian TV satellite service on 2 February

[Announcer] News just in: after the stoning of a school in Lipljan, another incident has taken place in Kosovo-Metohija. A [Serb] woman called Milica Delevic was stabbed in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica at 1900 [1800 gmt]. She was operated on at the Mitrovica health centre and is not in critical condition.

The regional police spokesman Larry Miller has confirmed that the attack took place, but could not disclose any information on the motives. The incident caused unease among the population of northern Mitrovica, our correspondent has reported.

Source: RTS SAT TV, Belgrade, in Serbian 1830 gmt 2 Feb 07

Kosovo Serb shepherd found dead with "serious head injures"

BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - January 30, 2007, Tuesday

Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet

Kosovska Vitina, 30 January: The Kosovska Mitrovica-based International Press Centre has reported that the body of Petko Ilic, has been found near the village of Binaca, near [the southeast town of] Kosovska Vitina.

A statement says that Ilic's body was found yesterday by members of his family, not far from the place where he was tending his sheep. He had serious head injuries, which had most probably caused his death.

The Kosovo Police Service is to search the scene today.

Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1213 gmt 30 Jan 07

Serbia: DSS suggests chilling ties with all that recognize Kosovo independence

BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - January 31, 2007 Wednesday

 

Text of report by N.M. Jovanovic and I. Cvetkovic: "DSS: Suspend relations with everyone who recognizes Kosovo" by Serbian newspaper Blic on 31 January

 

The Democratic Party of Serbia [DSS] proposes to chill relations with all countries - especially members of NATO, that recognize any form of independence of Kosovo-Metohija [Kosmet], says a proposal that a delegation headed by Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica forwarded to Serbian President Boris Tadic yesterday, Blic has learned from a source close to the Serbian government.

 

Our source said that this practically meant Kostunica proposed to break off diplomatic ties with every country that recognized any form of Kosmet's independence. The platform also said that if the solution for Kosmet was imposed, a clear stance should be assumed on further integration with NATO.

 

This is the basic platform which the DSS submitted for talks on the new government and set as a condition for the formation of the new government. The DSS asked that Tadic respond to its proposal as soon as possible.

 

Tadic's office released a statement following consultations with the DS and NS [New Serbia] to the effect that the populist coalition had conveyed its platform on Kosovo as a "prerequisite for the formation of the government" and that it anticipated a "possible response by Serbia in the event of an imposed solution on for the future status of Kosovo."

 

In response to the DSS-NS stance on the need for national principles on Kosovo before the new government was formed, G17 Plus leader Mladjan Dinkic said a national platform had been established by the assembly last year and that if the DSS believed it should be altered in any way, it should propose such a change.

 

"The G17 Plus believes that it is possible to seek a compromise on the final status of Kosovo, of course in a peaceful way," said Dinkic and added that the party shared Tadic's view on the matter.

 

However, the dilemma on whether Serbia has a negotiating team is still outstanding. For Tadic, co-chairman of the team, there is a team, whereas the DSS and government believe that the team should share the government's destiny and act as if it were outgoing.

 

Blic was told in Tadic's office that the negotiating team existed and that consultations were in progress between Tadic and Kostunica - the other co-chairman, on scheduling a new meeting of the team. Kostunica's office denied this.

 

The government believes that the members it appointed "in keeping with the law cannot take part in the work of the negotiating team until the formation of the new government."

 

[Box] Djuric: Ahtisaari likes to experiment on Serbia

 

Srdjan Djuric, head of the government office for cooperation with media, yesterday asked special UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari to explain why he was presenting Belgrade with a solution to the status of Kosovo before the new government was formed. "Ahtisaari is consistent in two things: experimenting with Serbia, creating precedents and persisting in avoiding to explain why he does so," he said.

 

Source: Blic, Belgrade, in Serbian 31 Jan 07

Kosovo: Dozen youths stone school in Serb enclave

BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - February 2, 2007 Friday

Text of report by Serbian TV satellite service on 2 February

[Announcer] News just in: at around 1750 [1650 gmt] a dozen youths threw stones at [Serb] Braca Aksic elementary school in Lipljan [Kosovo]. The facade and windows were damaged. Fortunately, there were no children in the school building at the time. The Kosovo Police Service has carried out an on-the-scene investigation.

Source: RTS SAT TV, Belgrade, in Serbian 1830 gmt 2 Feb 07

Kosovo Albanian protests causing "tensions, anxiety" among local Serbs - agency

BBC Monitoring International Reports - February 2, 2007 Friday

Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet

Obilic, 2 February: Anxiety among the Serb population in Crkvena Vodica village near Obilic was today caused by a slogan hung on a power sub-station on which Albanian words "Independence", "Serbs to Serbia" and "The End of Serbia" [last one in English] were writen and signed by UCK [Kosovo Liberation Army].

The Serbs began to get increasingly anxious starting two days ago, following a protest by ethnic Albanians outside the police station in Obilic where a symbol of a piggy bank with a dollar next to it dominated the protest with the following question posed in one of the slogans: "How much more we should pay for independence?" - which was addressed to [UN special Kosovo envoy] Martti Ahtisaari.

Increased tensions are noticeable in Kosovo, to which protests in many places contribute, organized on the eve of the arrival of special UN envoy [Martti Ahtisaari] to Pristina and his revealing his proposal for solving Kosovo status.

Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 0930 gmt 2 Feb 07

Serbian Bishop Dismisses UN Envoy's Proposal For Kosovo

Deutsche Presse Agentur, 04:09 PM, February 2nd 2007

Belgrade officials remained silent Friday immediately after the special UN envoy for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, handed them his proposal for the future of the breakaway province, but the Serbian church immediately rejected it.

"It is unacceptable," the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, Bishop Artemije, was quoted as saying in Brussels, the Serbian news agency Tanjug reported.

"Any solution leading to the secession of Kosovo is unacceptable for us and we will never accept it," Artemije said after discussing Ahtisaari's plan with the EU envoy for Kosovo, Stefan Lehne.

The priest called on Brussels to pressure the Albanian majority in Kosovo into "understanding" that independence was not the only option for the future status of what nominally still is Serbia's province.

The church has become increasingly influential in Serbian politics since the caretaker Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, a conservative and a "moderate nationalist" took over in Serbia three years ago.

Ahtisaari had handed his "settlement package" to Belgrade earlier Friday and has moved on to do the same in Pristina.

He refused to say what his proposal for the future status of Kosovo would be before Belgrade and Pristina get another chance for "constructive contributions."

Halimi: Kosovo will reflect on south of Serbia

Beta news agency, 2 February 2007 15:53

NOVI SAD -- Riza Halimi believes it is realistic to expect the Kosovo issue to "reflect" on the south of Serbia.

The Presevo Valley Albanians Coalition representative told Novi Sad's Gradanski List that he expected the international community to be able to provide security and stability in Kosovo, as well as that he did not predict any conflicts.

"Since the Presevo Valley neighbors the region, Kosovo problems have always reflected here directly, and naturally the same will happen this time, however I hope that the citizens of Kosovo will accept the status solution as their common interest", Halimi said.

Halimi, whose coalition has won one seat in the recent parliamentary elections, called on all "positive forces" to engage in order to overcome possible backlash in the south.

UN Tribunal Orders Kosovo Albanian Leader Haradinaj Back To Cell

Deutsche Presse Agentur, 04:54 PM, February 2nd 2007

Former Kosovan prime minister Ramush Haradinaj has been ordered to return to his cell in The Hague while he awaits trial, the UN war crimes tribunal said Friday.

Haradinaj was to report back on February 26, ahead of a pre-trial conference on March 1, the tribunal said.

The trial of the former leading figure in the Kosovo Liberation Army on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity is to start on March 5.

Haradinaj surrendered voluntarily to the tribunal in March 2005 after resigning as prime minister, an office he held only briefly.

In June the same year, the tribunal decided to release him provisionally.

He has pleaded not guilty to 37 counts, including murder, persecution, membership of a criminal enterprise and failing to act against a subordinate who committed rape.

Haradinaj, who is seen as a hero by many Kosovans, was released from custody on condition that he did not engage in political activity.

In a controversial ruling, the tribunal later said he could make public appearances with the proviso that the UN authorities in Kosovo had to grant permission.

U.S., Russia view Kosovo issue resolution differently - Lavrov

RUSSIAN INFORMATION AGENCY NOVOSTI, 03/02/2007 12:45

MOSCOW, February 3 (RIA Novosti) - Views of Russia and the United States on the resolution of the Kosovo issue are principal in nature, the Russian foreign minister said Saturday.

Russia has been repeatedly saying that a decision on independence of Serbia's predominantly Albanian Kosovo region should satisfy both Kosovar and Serbian authorities and must be made through negotiations, while the U.S. has been pushing for the resolution of the issue through the UN Security Council saying the region should be granted some form of independence.

"Kosovo is the issue, which in comparison with Iran, Iraq and the Middle East [issues], has principal differences in our positions. So far we have no common vision on the resolution of this issue," Sergei Lavrov said upon his return to Moscow from Washington, where he attended the meeting of the Quartet of Middle East mediators comprising the United Nations, Russia, the European Union and the United States.

The Russian minister said the possible variant of the resolution should satisfy both Pristina and Belgrade but the United States has a different view of the issue saying that it would be wrong to linger and resolve the issue within the UN Security Council, which is expected to vote on a final draft resolution on Kosovo in March.

On Friday United Nations envoy Martti Ahtisaari met with Serbian President Boris Tadic to discuss plans for Serbia and Kosovo, which were interpreted by both sides as suggesting a division of the territories, and foreseeing eventual independence for Kosovo. Following the meeting Tadic said Serbia will never recognize Kosovo's independence.

Russia, a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council and a traditional ally of Belgrade, has repeatedly said that sovereignty for the UN-administered Serbian province of Kosovo could have negative consequences for unresolved conflicts in the former Soviet Union that erupted in the early 1990s.

Last November, thousands of Kosovar Albanians attacked the UN headquarters in the capital, Pristina, over a delayed decision on their demand for independence. The region has been a UN protectorate since NATO's military campaign against Belgrade to end a war between Serb forces and Albanian separatists in 1999.

Serb woman stabbed, school stoned in Kosovo

Beta news agency, Belgrade, February 3, 2007 11:09

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, LIPLJAN -- A Serb woman was seriously injured last night in northern Kosovska Mitrovica, agencies report.

27-year-old Milica Devic from Zvecan was attacked and stabbed several times in the stomach by unknown assailants in an alley near the Red Cross building where she worked.

She sustained serious injuries and was transferred to Kosovska Mitrovica hospital's intensive care unit.

After the attack, the assailants fled in the direction of Bosnjacka Mahala.

Kosovo Police Service investigated the scene. Its officers said they had recovered the knife used in the attack.

In a separate incident in Kosovo yesterday, a group of Albanian high school students stoned Lipljan's Braca Aleksic elementary school.

The school principal Jugoslav Crvenkovic said several windows were broken, along with minor damage on the building itself.

The Albanian students took to stoning the Serb school while returning from classes they attend in another part of Lipljan.

Serbian Church Spurns Kosovo Statute

PRENSA LATINA (CUBA)

Belgrade, Feb 3 (Prensa Latina) The Serbian Orthodox Church has joined the rejection of the statute presented in this capital by UN mediator Marthi Ahtissari for Kosovo, calling it illegal.

In a release issued in Belgrade, the orthodox Episcopal conference denounced there are intentions to get hold of Serbia s most valuable region, and recalled Kosovo was inhabited only by Serbians thousands of years ago.

It also considers the province as the cradle of culture and center of the medieval Serbian state, inalienable part of this country s territory.

On Friday, Ahtissari presented a new statute for Kosovo in Belgrade and Pristina, making no reference to the term independence. However, the text grants it legal authority to use its own symbols and army, and affiliate to international organizations, among other prerogatives.

President Boris Tadic rebuffed the proposal, calling it unacceptable.

Swiss expert criticises Kosovo proposal

SWISS INFO, February 3, 2007 - 3:10 PM

Thomas Fleiner, a Swiss legal expert who is advising the Serbian government on Kosovo, has criticised the latest proposal on the future of the disputed province.

Fleiner told a newspaper the plan presented by the United Nations special envoy to Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, might result in a pressure-based solution and therefore more ethnic conflict.

The Swiss foreign ministry has, however, welcomed Ahtisaari's recommendations.

The 90 per cent ethnic Albanian majority want Kosovo to break away from Serbia, but this is rejected by Belgrade, which wants the province to remain part of the country.

Ahtisaari's plan, presented on Friday, recommends that Kosovo should be able to govern itself democratically and make international agreements.

It did not explicitly mention independence, but observers have hailed it as taking the first tentative step on the road to possible statehood. The proposal has already been rejected by the president of Serbia.

In an interview published in Saturday's edition of Le Temps, Fleiner said he was not optimistic about the plan.

"For me the only solution for Kosovo is to clearly reach a consensus between the parties and not a limping compromise resulting from international pressure," the head of Fribourg University's Institute of Federalism said.

Vienna meeting

Ahtisaari has called a meeting between the two sides in Vienna later this month in which both sides are, according to the UN envoy, to be given one more chance to find a compromise.

However, Fleiner said that this was putting too much pressure on the Serbs and could be exploited by the nationalists, the big winners in the last parliamentary elections.

He said that in ethnic conflicts it was often the process and negotiations that counted more than the final solution and that the international community could learn its lessons from the situations in Cyprus and in the Middle East.

For her part, Swiss Foreign Mininster Micheline Calmy-Rey has several times stated her support for Kosovo's independence.

Fleiner called on the government to continue its efforts, but emphasised that for now Serbia did not consider Bern to be neutral in the matter.

A foreign ministry spokesman, quoted in Le Temps, said the ministry welcomed Ahtisaari's latest recommendations.

Switzerland has not participated in the official negotiations but has collaborated wit the UN envoy by giving him assistance on decentralisation and protection of minorities issues, spokesman Philippe Jeanneret was quoted as saying.

UN administration

The UN has administered Kosovo since a Nato bombing campaign forced out Serbian troops in 1999.

Talks on the province's future and status have been continuing for years without the two sides coming to agreement.

Under Ahtisaari's plan, Kosovo could raise its own flag, with its own national anthem and other symbols.

But an "international community representative" would be appointed, with powers to intervene if Kosovo tried to go further than the plan allowed, while Nato and European Union forces would remain in military and policing roles.

The UN Security Council will have the final say on whether to adopt the plan.

swissinfo with agencies

Serbia rejects Kosovo breakaway

BBC (UK), Friday, 2 February 2007, 16:10 GMT

Serbia's president says he will never accept the independence of Kosovo, after the publication of a UN plan which could allow it to separate.

UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari's plan recommends that Kosovo should govern itself democratically and be able to make international agreements.

But President Boris Tadic said the plan paved the way for independence, which he and Serbia would not accept.

Kosovo's leader said he believed the process would end in full independence.

"Kosovo will be sovereign like all other countries," President Fatmir Sejdiu said, after meeting Mr Ahtisaari.

'Compromise deal'

The UN has administered Kosovo since a Nato bombing campaign forced out Serbian troops in 1999.

KEY PROPOSAL POINTS
- Contains no reference to Serbian sovereignty or independence for Kosovo
- Blocks Kosovo from joining Albania, or having its Serb areas split off and join Serbia
- Kosovo can use national symbols
- Kosovo can join international organisations
- Creates international envoy mandated by UN and EU with power to intervene in government
- Retains Nato and EU forces in military and policing roles
- Protects non-Albanian minority with guaranteed roles in government, police and civil service
- Protects Serbian Orthodox Church sites and Serbian language

Talks to determine the province's final status have been continuing for years without the two sides coming to agreement.

Ethnic Albanians make up 90% of the province's two million people.

According to the UN, more than 220,000 non-Albanian Kosovans are living as internally displaced refugees in Serbia and Montenegro.

The ethnic Albanian majority overwhelmingly want to break away from Serbia, but Serbs regard the province - which is still officially part of Serbia - as the cradle of their culture, and oppose any solution that would lead to its independence.

Mr Ahtisaari says the proposals are a compromise between ethnic Albanian aspirations for an independent Kosovo and Serbia's wish to keep the province as part of its territory.

"I hope that as a result of this process we can make a new beginning. I think it will take some time and I think we have to be realistic as well that to talk about Kosovo as a model multi-ethnic society will take a long time, but it is important that we make a beginning," he said.

National anthem

But speaking after talks with Mr Ahtisaari in Belgrade, Mr Tadic said that the plan in effect paved the way for Kosovo to become independent.

The proposal "does not explicitly mention independence for Kosovo, but it also does not mention territorial integrity of Serbia," he said. "That fact alone, as well as some other provisions, opens the possibility for Kosovo's independence."

And he insisted that this was not something Belgrade was prepared to accept.

"Imposing independence would violate the fundamental principles of international law and serve as a dangerous political and legal precedent," Mr Tadic said.

Under Mr Ahtisaari's plan, Kosovo would be allowed its own national symbols, including a flag and anthem, and to apply for membership of international organisations like the United Nations.

It would not be unconditional independence, however.

An "international community representative" would be appointed, with powers to intervene if Kosovo tried to go further than the plan allowed, while Nato and EU forces would remain in military and policing roles.

Kosovo could not be partitioned between Serbian and ethnic Albanian areas, nor would Kosovo be allowed to join any other state - implicitly ruling out the creation of a "greater Albania".

The interests of Kosovo's Serbs, including the Serbian Orthodox Church and the language, would be explicitly protected, and there would be guaranteed Serb representation in parliament, the police and civil service.

The UN Security Council will have the final say on whether to adopt the plan.

Kosovo issue must be settled only by negotiations-Lavrov.

ITAR-TASS (RUSSIAN FEDERATION), 03.02.2007, 10.33

MOSCOW, February 3 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia is convinced that the Kosovo issue must be settled only through negotiations, and it is necessary to look for a variant that will be approved both by Serbs and Pristina, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

Americans have some different view on the problem, the minister noted. They believe it will be not right to be slow and it is necessary to settle the issue through the U.N. Security Council, Lavrov said.

"A variant to impose what is unacceptable on any of the parties does not suit us," the minister stressed.

Kosovo says Yes to U.N. plan, Serbia says No (2)

Reuters, Sat Feb 3, 2007 3:43 AM ET By Ellie Tzortzi and Matt Robinson

BELGRADE/PRISTINA (Reuters) - U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari unveiled a plan on Friday to set Serbia's Kosovo province on a path to independence, an outcome which Kosovo's majority Albanians quickly applauded but Belgrade rejected.

Ahtisaari's proposal did not mention "independence" or address the loss of Serbia's sovereignty over the territory, where 90 percent of the people are ethnic Albanian. But both sides said this was clearly what it implied.

The poor landlocked province of two million borders Albania and is cherished by Serbs as the medieval homeland of their nation. Its status is one of the last unresolved problems from the wars that tore apart the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

"Kosovo will be sovereign like all other countries," said Kosovo president Fatmir Sejdiu after meeting Ahtisaari in Kosovo's capital Pristina.

Prime Minister Agim Ceku, a former guerrilla in the 1998-99 Kosovo Liberation Army which fought the forces of the late Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic, said the document "is very clear for Kosovo's future". The process will end "when Kosovo becomes an independent state." His cabinet threw a cocktail party.

After a meeting in Serbia, President Boris Tadic agreed the plan "opens up the possibility of independence". But Tadic said he told the envoy: "Serbia and I as its president will never accept the independence of Kosovo."

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has condemned Ahtisaari for "anti-Serb bias", and took the lead in rejecting his plan in advance, refusing even to meet the envoy on Friday.

Ahtisaari's plan gives Kosovo access to international bodies usually reserved for sovereign states and allows it to use its own flag and anthem. The Serb minority would have broad self-government.

"The settlement provides for an international representative to supervise the implementation," Ahtisaari told a news conference. The NATO-led peace force "will continue to provide a safe and secure environment ... as long as necessary".

It includes measures to "promote sustainable economic development including Kosovo's ability to apply for membership in international financial institutions", he added.

LAST CHANCE

Ahtisaari declined several opportunities to address the issue of Kosovo's ultimate status, saying this would be settled by the U.N. Security Council once he formally presented his plan, following a last round of consultations.

He said the diametrically opposed positions of the Serbs and Kosovo Albanians were "extremely fixed". He was allowing them "one more chance" to agree but was "not terribly optimistic".

"That might require so much time that I don't think I have enough years in my life to achieve that," said the 69-year-old.

Invitations would be sent for further talks starting on February 13 and it would be up to Serbian and Kosovo Albanian leaders to decide whether to turn up. The former Finnish president mediated months of largely fruitless talks in 2006.

There was no point in waiting for a new government to be formed following Serbia's inconclusive election last month, he said. "Whether it's now or a little bit later, the same people would be on either side of the table."

Ahtisaari said he hoped to send the final plan to the U.N. Security Council by the end of March.

The European Union urged both sides to respond "positively and constructively" to Ahtisaari's proposals. The State Department said the proposal "is fair and balanced. It is a blueprint for a stable, prosperous and multi-ethnic Kosovo".

Kosovo has been run by the U.N. since 1999 when NATO bombing forced Milosevic to withdraw troops accused of killing 10,000 Albanians during a counter-insurgency war. About 100,000 ethnic Serbs remain. Some predict violence and secession, and both NATO and the U.N. mission have made contingency plans for a crisis.

"There is nothing more we can do," said Kosovo Serb accountant Milica Knezevic, "there's no life for us here."

Ahtisaari said in Pristina that the Contact Group guiding diplomacy on Kosovo -- the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia -- would not accept the partition of Kosovo, which would entail slicing off the mainly Serb north.

Serb premier Kostunica said the envoy's proposals were "illegitimate". He is urging all parties in the next government to solemnly pledge to cut Serb ties with any country recognising Kosovo's independence, including major Western powers.

(Additional reporting by Beti Bilandzic, Monika Lajhner, Ivana Sekularac in Belgrade and Fatos Bytyci and Shaban Buza in Pristina)

U.N. plan for Kosovo unacceptable-Serb bishop

Reuters, 02 Feb 2007 11:48:41 GMT By David Brunnstrom (Adds quotes)

BRUSSELS, Feb 2 (Reuters) - A U.N. plan for the future of Kosovo will never be accepted by the Serb minority or Serbia, the head of the Serb Orthodox Church in Kosovo said on Friday.

Bishop Artemije told Reuters an imposed solution for the province would destabilise the Balkan region and boost calls for independence in other parts of Europe.

"The proposal is unacceptable to us because it presupposes the separation of Kosovo from Serbia and as such will never be accepted either by the Kosovo Serbs nor the Serbian state," the spiritual leader of Kosovo's Serb minority said.

"Only a solution found through talks and compromise can be a lasting solution," Artemije, speaking through an interpreter, said in an interview after meeting EU Special Representative to Kosovo Stefan Lehne in Brussels.

The bishop spoke as U.N. special envoy Martti Ahtisaari handed over his plan to set Kosovo on a path to independence to Serb authorities. Ahtisaari was to travel to Kosovo's capital, Pristina, later on Friday.

Asked if he was confident Russia would continue to oppose any attempt to impose a solution for Kosovo through the U.N. Security Council, Artemije said: "If Serbia sticks firmly to its position, we are absolutely sure that Russia will do the same."

"If the international community imposes a solution it will not bring peace and stability to the region, but rather it will destabilise the region."

Asked how he would advise his congregation, he said: "We cannot resist physically, but what we can do is not accept it."

GHETTOISED MINORITY

Kosovo has been run by the U.N. since 1999 when 11 weeks of bombing by NATO forced the late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw his forces, accused of killing 10,000 Albanians during a counter-insurgency war.

Kosovo's 100,000 Serbs are a ghettoised minority who saw thousands of their kin flee a wave of revenge attacks with the end of the 1998-99 Kosovo Albanian war for independence.

Rich in Orthodox religious heritage, the province of two million people holds almost mythic status for Serbs, their so-called cradle stretching back 1,000 years.

"We believe the future of the Serb community in Kosovo will be rather grim," Artemije said. "Under the U.N. administration, the situation has been quite tragic for the Serb population and we do not believe it will improve in an independent Kosovo."

He said Kosovo Albanians had used violence and threats to back their claim for independence.

"Once more they are threatening violence if they do not get what they want...The international community must stop any violence and has an obligation to do so."

Artemije warned separating Kosovo from Serbia would start a "domino effect", convincing advocates for independence elsewhere in Europe that terror could be used to achieve political goals.

He produced a map from his black robes showing more than 20 independence movements from Ireland to Spain, to Georgia and Russia. Attached was an open letter headed "Sober up, Europe!"

"If you succeed to forcibly separate Kosovo from Serbia, a sovereign and democratic European country, start thinking about what Europe will look like in ten years from now," he wrote.

Envoy's Kosovo status plan 'illegitimate': Serbian PM

Agence France Presse, 02 fĂ©vrier 2007  17:02

BELGRADE, Feb 2, 2007 (AFP) Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostuncia on Friday rejected a UN envoy's proposal on Kosovo's future status as "illegitimate," Tanjug news agency reported.

"Martti Ahtisaari has had no mandate to deal with the state status of Serbia and to encroach on its sovereignty and territorial integrity," Kostunica said in a statement carried by Tanjug.

"His proposal violates the UN Charter and principles of international law on which peace and stability in the world is based. That means Ahtisaari's proposal is illegitimate," he said.

"Nobody has given him such a mandate, especially not Serbia as a sovereign, democratic and European state."

Kostunica had earlier Friday refused to meet the UN envoy on his visit to Belgrade to present the plan, angered by his decision to come while Serbia had a caretaker government following January 21 elections.

Kostunica is a moderate nationalist leader renowned for his fierce opposition to Kosovo's possible independence, which his government and many Serbs consider the cradle of their history, culture and religion.
His statement added that Serbia's new parliament would have to decide on what further steps to take in line with the country's recently approved constitution, which declares Kosovo as an integral" part of the country.