Kosovans elect moderate president

KOSOVO lawmakers elected a moderate new president yesterday, paving the way for the start of talks on the province’s future status.

President Fatmir Sejdiu said he would not abandon the ethnic Albanian majority’s push for independence from Serbia. But he pledged in his acceptance speech to make Kosovo a state that guarantees minority rights and is “at peace with itself and its neighbours”.

“Kosovo’s independence is non-negotiable,” he said in an interview at his home.

“For us it is very important that this road to independence is a quick one.”

The parliament voted 80-12 to make him Kosovo’s second president since a NATO bombing campaign ended a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in 1999. He replaces Ibrahim Rugova, who died of cancer on January 21.

The presidential post in Kosovo is largely ceremonial but it has gained importance because the president is to lead negotiations with Serb officials.

Mr Sejdiu, a 54-year-old law professor and member of parliament, is considered a political moderate but his positions on Kosovo’s status are similar to Rugova’s.

Western diplomats recently indicated Kosovo’s quest for independence was conditional on its becoming a democracy that respects minority rights. The first round of negotiations will deal with local government reforms meant to give Kosovo’s Serbs and other minorities greater say in where they live.

Mr Sejdiu said this reform should not allow the ethnic Albanian majority to dominate minority groups, and should not allow the creation of separate Serb enclaves.