UN Kosovo plan: No mention of independence
Kosovo was widely expected to take its first tentative step toward statehood today with the unveiling of a UN proposal for the future of the bitterly-contested province.
Western diplomats familiar with the details of UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari’s plan said it would not explicitly mention independence, but would lay the groundwork for conditional, internationally-supervised statehood. The blueprint still needs approval from the UN Security Council.
“Throughout the text, Ahtisaari has pointedly refrained from using the 'independence' word, but the proposals in effect describe a status outcome that might be summarised as independence subject to international supervision,” one Western official said.
Kosovo has been a UN protectorate since 1999, when Nato airstrikes stopped Serbia’s crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanian rebels.
Ethnic Albanians, who account for 90 per cent of Kosovo’s 2 million population, have rejected Serbia's offer of broad autonomy within Serbian borders and demand outright independence.
Diplomats warned that the roadmap – to be presented today to Serb leaders in Belgrade and Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian leadership in the provincial capital of Pristina – would disappoint people on both sides of the ethnic divide.
“The Serbs will have to accept the loss of Kosovo,” the Western official said. And Kosovo’s Albanian majority “will have to accept continued international presence, significant limitations on their sovereignty and a very generous package of rights for the Kosovo Serbs”.
Trappings of independence, the official added, would include a flag and anthem along with the right to seek membership in international organisations – though a seat at the United Nations would by no means be assured.
Yesterday, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network posted on its website what it said was the “key section” of Ahtisaari’s report. The text, which did not include any reference to independence, said Kosovo would have the right to adopt its own constitution and enter into international agreements. Ahtisaari’s office declined to comment.
If the proposal eventually wins Security Council approval, that would set the stage for the US and other countries to formally recognise Kosovo’s independence. However, there were concerns that the plan could trigger a showdown between the United States – long an advocate of an independent Kosovo – and Russia, a traditional ally of Serbia which wields veto power.
In a snub to Ahtisaari, Serbian prime minister Vojislav Kostunica refused to meet with the former Finnish president, who instead will lay out his plan to pro-Western president Boris Tadic.
Kostunica, a nationalist, is a fierce critic of Ahtisaari, who he has accused of working in the interest of Kosovo’s Albanians and of ignoring Serbia’s claims to Kosovo as the heart of its ancient homeland.
Kostunica has threatened to cut off diplomatic ties with any country that recognises Kosovo as an independent state. That drew a stern rebuke from the US Embassy in Belgrade, which issued a statement saying it was “very disappointed by this approach”.
In Kosovo, where only about 100,000 Serbs still live – many complaining they are subject to discrimination and reprisal attacks – some Serbs expressed doubts that Ahtisaari’s plan would adequately protect their minority.
Kosovo’s prime minister, Agim Ceku, appealed for calm, and the 16,500-member Nato-led peacekeeping force stepped up patrols.
Ceku acknowledged that the plan would not please everyone. “Not all will be what we anticipated, deserve or wish,” he cautioned, but noted that both sides would still have a chance to comment on the draft in the coming weeks.
Diplomats said the plan would recommend the establishment of an international representative – similar to the office set up in Bosnia after that country’s bloody 1992-95 war – to oversee day-to-day affairs.
There also would be provisions for a Kosovo security force which would be overseen by Nato, officials said.
