French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner travels to Serbia this week amid signs that Europe is ready to recognise Kosovo’s independence even without a supporting United Nations resolution.
Kouchner holds meetings in Belgrade on Thursday and Pristina on Friday to ”call on both parties to become actively engaged” in last-ditch talks on the status of the ethnic Albanian-majority province, the Foreign Ministry said.
France, Britain and the United States have called for a 120-day pause in determining the future of Kosovo after Russia fiercely opposed a proposal from UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari for ”supervised independence” for the Serbian province.
”Give us a few months,” Kouchner said last week. ”But at the end of those few months, it’s the red line — we must take a decision.”
Kouchner, who served as Kosovo’s first UN administrator from 1999 to 2001, said he believes there will be a ”common European position” on the future of the province.
Kosovo has been administered by the UN since 1999, after a Nato bombing campaign helped to drive out Serb forces carrying out a brutal crackdown on ethnic Albanians, who make up 90% of its population.
Serbia rejects independence for Kosovo, seen by many Serbs as the cradle of their nation and religion. Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority demands independence, but Serbia wants to retain some control.
Diplomats said European governments are ready to recognise Kosovo, even without a UN resolution.
”We will take responsibility,” said a European diplomat. ”We will not play into the hands of someone for 10 years,” he added, referring to Russia, which has threatened to veto any UN Security Council resolution on Kosovo that does not meet with Serbia’s approval.
”A European recognition of Kosovo is highly desirable, because the other alternative is simply to leave the situation blocked, which will lead to a crisis on the ground,” said Alexander Anderson, director of the Kosovo project at the International Crisis Group, which provides analysis on conflicts.
With the US stating last month that it was ready to recognise independent Kosovo unilaterally, the Europeans were faced with a choice to follow Washington’s lead.
Already France has laid the groundwork by holding two meetings of the contact group on Kosovo — minus Russia — last month. The contact group comprises Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the US.
Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku has pledged that the ethnic Albanian leadership will not unilaterally declare independence without US and European backing. — Sapa-AFP