SERBIA / SPAIN: U.S. envoy Frank Wisner says Kosovo talks should move ahead; European Union Foreign Affairs chief Javier Solana arrives in Madrid

United States Kosovo envoy Frank Wisner said on Tuesday (October 31) that negotiations on the status of the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo should be completed as soon as possible. Speaking in Belgrade, he refused to be drawn on whether a decision should be delayed until after Serbian elections, likely in December, as some European Union politicians have suggested. Diplomat s say Kosovo will be given a path to eventual statehood. Delaying the announcement until after elections could help Serbias pro-Western parties and avoid a victory by ultranationalists likely to capatalise on Kosovos loss. "It is the firm view of the U.S. that a delay offers no advantages to any party," Wisner said after meeting Serbian officials. Negotiations should be concluded, delay can only frustrate the hopes of those who live in Kosovo and deny clarity to Serbians as they think about their own future. "The United States further believes that delay can only leave in limbo the definition of this region, which needs to close its door on the past and to define its future," Wisner said. He said that until the Serbian parliament had agreed on an election date the U.S. could not consider whether a delay would make sense. "I'm not prepared to answer a hypothetical question as to whether a delay makes sense or how long that delay would take place, " Wisner added. Speaking also about the current situation in Kosovo, European Union Foreign Affairs chief Javier Solana said on Tuesday the United Nations mediator for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari should delay presenting his final plan on Kosovo until after Serbian elections, if a vote is held this year. "If a Serbian election is to be held in 2006, he said, "we would wait to make the decision on what would be the final status." Most Serbian parties, including the ultranationalist Radical Party, currently Serbia's strongest, agree elections should be held as soon as possible. But some do not want a simultaneous presidential vote, which is favoured by the pro-Western Democratic Party of Serbian Boris Tadic, now in opposition. The new government will have to deal not only with Kosovo, but also with speeding up Serbia's path to the European Union, currently on hold because of Belgrade's failure to arrest war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic. A delay is out of the question for Kosovo's Albanian majority population, who have been waiting for their own state for seven years. The province of 2 million people has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when the Western alliance bombed for 78 days to drive out forces under late strongman Slobodan Milosevic. Ten thousand Albanians died and 800,000 fled Milosevic's two-year war against separatist guerrillas.

ITN Source | November 1, 2006

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