Translated material
Kosovo promised status talk
The UN hopes to rid the region of lawlessness
The UN Security Council approved the start of the negotiation process on the status of the Serbian region of Kosovo. The statement, adopted after discussing the report of the UN Special Envoy Kai Eide, acknowledges the existence of “problems still facing Kosovo and the region as a whole.” But nevertheless, the international community found it possible to abandon the previous principle of “standards first, status later,” which emphasized the priority of establishing international standards of rights and security for the non-Albanian minority of the region, primarily the Serbs.Yesterday, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Yakovenko said that the UN Security Council decision on Kosovo “is fully consistent with the Russian position.” Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Andrei Denisov, emphasized to Vremya Novostey that "the course of the status process will be largely determined by progress in the field of standards."
Why did the world community change its position? Uncertainty over negotiations on the status of Kosovo provoked increased tension and violence in the province. Mr. Eide noted that “an atmosphere of impunity reigns in Kosovo.” The beginning of status negotiations is intended to become a valve for releasing the fumes of hatred and radicalism that have accumulated in the region.
By the end of the week, Kofi Annan will announce the name of his special representative for negotiations on the status of Kosovo in line with “shuttle diplomacy” between all participants in the process. The candidacy will have to be approved by the Security Council. Most likely, this mission will be entrusted to ex-President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari.
Negotiations are expected to begin before the end of this year. French Foreign Minister Philippe Doust-Blazy admits that the process “will be long and difficult, since the aspirations of the Serbs and Kosovars are very different.” The head of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Soran Jessen-Petersen, also emphasized the “diametrical opposition” of the positions of the parties.
When deciding on negotiations on the status of Kosovo, the UN Security Council proceeded from the fact that “an agreement must be reached primarily between the parties themselves without any coercion,” Mr. Denisov emphasized to VN. According to the UN Security Council, the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade will be fed with fresh ideas by the Contact Group (CG), which includes France, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, the USA and Russia, that is, the four permanent members of the Security Council.
A meeting of the CG is expected in Washington in early November. The “intellectual outline of the status process” developed there by the group, according to VN, will be supported at the Security Council meeting. By the way, Russia will chair the UN Security Council in November.
No new resolutions on Kosovo are expected until the status process is completed. As VN’s diplomatic sources emphasize, the legal basis for international decisions on Kosovo remains UN Security Council Resolution No. 1244, adopted in 1999. In that document, it was determined that Kosovo, without defining the status of the region, is part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and now its successor - the state community of Serbia and Montenegro (S&M). Kosovo is administered by UNMIK.
Meanwhile, Belgrade still considers Kosovo and Metohija (the official Serbian name of the region) its autonomy, offering Pristina only an expansion of the limits of self-government. But the Kosovars are only ready to talk about complete independence. And this is not the only difficulty: after all, in 2006 Montenegro may withdraw from the Black Sea region by holding a referendum. The collapse of the Black Sea region will call into question the current UN definition of the region's ownership and will make negotiations on the status of Kosovo even more difficult and lengthy.