AUSTRIA: Kosovo talks restart but no deal in sight

Talks resume in Vienna to decide the fate of the Serbian province of Kosovo with Serbs saying an emphatic No to independence. Leaders of Serbia and Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority returned to Vienna on Thursday (August 30) for last-chance talks on the fate of the breakaway Serbian province. There is no breakthrough in sight. Kosovo Albanians demand independence after eight years under United Nations rule and Serbs insist they can never have it. But the European Union envoy, one of three diplomats mediating the talks, made clear the process was not open-ended. The mediators can work until December 10, Wolfgang Ischinger said, "we don't have a mandate beyond that. It's very clear". On his way into a meeting with Kosovo Albanian leaders he said that "as a good diplomat", he was realistically optimistic there could be good progress. After months of going nowhere, U.N. mediator Martti Ahtisaari called a halt to talks earlier this year. He said agreement was impossible and proposed independence under the supervision of the European Union. But Russia rejected his plan and blocked its adoption at the U.N. Security Council. The West reluctantly agreed to new talks, hoping to wrap them up by December when the "troika" of Russian, United States and EU envoys reports back to the United Nations. Russia, however, rejects that deadline. The Serbs and Albanians meet separately with the envoys on Thursday, with make-or-break direct talks expected in October or November. The Kosovo Albanians are represented by Prime Minister Agim Ceku and President Fatmir Sejdiu. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and President Boris Tadic have opted to stay at home, leaving the talks to lesser officials. EU envoy Ischinger said he has no problem with the delegation Belgrade sent.

ITN Source | August 30, 2007

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