SERBIA: The United Nations will postpone a decision on the future status of Kosovo after Serbian President announces early election

The United Nations will postpone a decision on the future status of Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo, U.N. special envoy Martti Ahtisaari said in a statement on Friday (November 10). The decision was taken in Vienna at a meeting of the Contact Group of six major powers guiding Balkan diplomacy. The nations -- the U.S., Britain, Italy, France, Germany and Russia -- are meeting in Vienna to discuss the situation with Kosovo, which has been administered by the United Nations since 1999. The West had promised Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority a decision by year end, but delayed it after Serbian President Boris Tadic on Friday announced an early parliamentary election will be held next January. "I am calling elections for the MPs of the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia for January 21, 2007," Tadic told reporters at a news conference in Belgrade. "As far as the international community and the Contact Group, I expect that they will continue its politics of negotiation on the future status of Kosovo (and Metohija) and envoys of the international community as well," Tadic said. Tadic added "Without negotiations on the future status of Kosovo we have instability, not only in Serbia but in the entire region," "Every imposed solution is absolutely unacceptable and I repeat the stand that an independence of Kosovo is an act that could destabilise the entire region in the long term," Tadic said. In Vienna Ahtisaari declined to speak in front of cameras on Friday but did give a written statement to Reuters. The statement read "In light of the announcement by (Serbian) President Tadic to hold Serbian parliamentary elections on January 21 2007, and after consulting with the Contact Group today, I have decided to present my proposal for the settlement of Kosovo's status to the parties without delay after parliamentary elections in Serbia." Ahtisaari has mediated face-to-face talks between Serb and Kosovo Albanian leaders since February, with no hint of compromise on the central issue of the provinces future status. The vote had been on the cards since October 29 when Serbia voted to replace the 1990 constitution written under the rule of late President Slobodan Milosevic. Parties wrangled for days over the exact date, delaying the adoption of a new constitutional law that would define a timetable for the election. They approved the law in the early hours of Friday. The election will pit the Radicals against the pro-Western Democratic Party led by Tadic, which is second in opinion polls. Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia is in third while its smaller allies in the minority government lag in polls. Tadic, one of Serbia's most popular politicians, said on Friday he would campaign with all his strength to make sure democratic political forces win the election. The election is some 10 months ahead of schedule. The announcement of the early election may cause more tension in divided towns like Mitrovica in Kosovo. The city is divided between Serbs and ethnic Albanians, the line patrolled by NATO soldiers and United Nations police.

ITN Source | November 10, 2006

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