Kosovo troika meets with Belgrade, Pristina representatives

20/09/2007

The troika in charge of mediating the new Kosovo status talks met with representatives from Belgrade and Pristina this week. The focus of the meetings was to nail down an agenda for face to face talks between the two groups later this month.

By Blerta Foniqi-Kabashi and Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade - 20/09/07

EU envoy to the Kosovo troika Wolfgang Ischinger (centre), US diplomat Frank Wisner (right) and Russian envoy Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko met with both delegations in London. [Getty Images]

The Kosovo negotiation team was in London on Wednesday (September 19th) to meet with the US-EU-Russia troika that is mediating the issue of Kosovo's final status. The session focused on organising face to face negotiations between the Belgrade and Pristina, which will take place in New York on September 28th.

The delegation from Pristina presented a document outlining its vision of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, after the province's status is determined.

The document -- presented by Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu -- states that Pristina wants to base these future ties on good neighbourly relations between two states.

"Independence is the starting and finishing point of Kosovo Albanians in the ongoing direct negotiations with Belgrade …we want to have good relationships with Serbia as two different countries," Sejdiu said, adding that relations should also be based on co-operation on issues of common interest, full protection of minorities in Kosovo, progress in determining the fate of missing persons and the return of refugees.

The document also states that Pristina wants to co-operate with Belgrade in realisation of the common vision for integration into Europe. "We're determined for progress founded on improved relations between the two countries," said Sejdiu.

The meeting with Pristina officials came a day after the troika's meeting with representatives from Belgrade. During it, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic announced that the Belgrade team for the meeting in New York will be led by Serbian President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica.

"We believe that only through honest, patient and unlimited negotiations can we reach a status of Kosovo that will be the foundation and prerequisite for the Balkans' future in the EU, which is the objective of all governments in the region," Jeremic said.

After Belgrade's ally, Russia, blocked a resolution on Kosovo's independence in the UN Security Council this summer, the Contact Group appointed three negotiators to mediate the new status talks. The troika is composed of US envoy Frank Wisner, Russian representative Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko and EU envoy Wolfgang Ischinger.

Serbian Minister of Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic, who also attended the London meeting, said that Belgrade proposed five topics to be discussed in New York. The first is the creation of an international agreement for the future status of Kosovo, which would support essential autonomy for the province within Serbia.

The second is a concrete division of authority between Serbia and Kosovo. The other topics involve economic issues, Kosovo's relations with international financial institutions and UNMIK's presence in the province.

"The troika's mission ends on December 10th. Our mission is a chance given to Belgrade and Pristina, and I am afraid there will not be another one," Ischinger said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow opposes artificial deadlines for the completion of the Kosovo talks. "I don't see how unilateral recognition of independence for Kosovo can stabilise the situation in Europe. It would mark the beginning of a chain reaction in different parts of the continent," he said. "Russia wants to avoid such a scenario."

In a statement issued after the meeting, the troika urged Pristina and Kosovo to present "new and original ideas and to make realistic proposals" for the direct talks. The two sides were urged to "engage seriously and to abstain from any actions or statements which might be considered a provocation".