Kosovo insists only Ahtisaari package applies to north

13/08/2010

PRISTINA, Kosovo -- The government reiterated on Thursday (August 12th) its commitment to implementing the Ahtisaari plan and ruled out any new options in the Serb-dominated north. The statement came a day after media reported that Italy's South Tyrol model is being considered for northern Kosovo. "The Kosovo government took obligations to respect the Ahtisaari package and incorporated it in Kosovo laws and the constitution. It was a big compromise ... that protected the ethnic balance and geographical spread of power in Kosovo," Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuci said. "If these ethnic balances and the spread of power are broken, then there is a problem with the normal functioning of the state," he added.

The institution monitoring Kosovo's supervised independence, the International Civilian Office (ICO), seemed to agree. ICO spokesperson Kai Mueller-Berner noted that "the Ahtisaari plan has already set out extensive arrangements for local self-government in Mitrovica north." (Koha Ditore, Express, Lajm, Kosova Sot - 13/08/10)