UN postpones Kosovo talks

Negotiations over a UN plan for Kosovo were postponed today for one week, after Serbia requested more time to allow for a parliament to be formed in Belgrade, a UN mediator said.

Albert Rohan said chief UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari agreed to reschedule the talks for February 21, after receiving a formal request from Serbian president Boris Tadic. The negotiations had initially been planned for February 13.

Under the plan Ahtisaari unveiled last week, Kosovo would be granted internationally supervised statehood. The plan was endorsed by key ethnic Albanian leaders and rejected by Serbian officials.

Rohan said that although the start of the talks would be delayed, he still aimed to have discussions concluded by early March. Ahtisaari plans to submit his proposal next month to the UN Security Council, which will have the final say over Kosovo’s future.

Kosovo has been administered by the UN since Nato airstrikes in 1999 ended a Serb crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians. The province’s ethnic Albanian majority wants full independence, but minority Serbs and the Serb government want Belgrade to retain some control.

“We want to give both parties the opportunity, after having presented this proposal, to have a say, to put their positions forward,” Rohan said. “Therefore we asked for understanding to the (ethnic Albanian leaders) that we want to give the Serbian side a chance to come to Vienna.”

He said Tadic assured the mediators that a Serbian delegation would go to the talks once parliament was constituted and authorised a delegation.

Serbia held parliamentary elections on January 21, and politicians are in the midst of negotiations to form a new government.

Kosovo’s President Fatmir Sejdiu said he expected the next phase of talks to make up for the delay.

“We have said that any delay does not produce positive effects, but for us it’s important to stand ready to continue the process,” Sejdiu said.

Rohan, a deputy to Ahtisaari, spoke at a news conference in Kosovo’s capital, Pristina, where he met with ethnic Albanian leaders to discuss the plan.

The UN plan does not explicitly mention independence from Serbia, but spells out conditions for self-rule – complete with a flag, anthem, army and constitution and the right to apply for membership in international organisations. Kosovo’s Serb minority would have a high degree of control over their own affairs.

In the northern, Serb-dominated part of the province, about 5,000 Serbs held a protest rally in the divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica.

“No To Independent Kosovo”, “Kosovo is Soul of Serbia”, “No to Anti-Serb Plan” read some of the banners.

Ahtisaari also said Thursday he would consider “constructive amendments” to his plan for the future of Kosovo during the final round of talks.