Word: kosovo
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Today the international community's deadline for the final attempt to hammer out a negotiated solution to the problem of Kosovo's future expired. The international "troika" overseeing talks between Kosovo Albanians, who want independence from Belgrade as soon as possible, and Serbs, who are willing to grant only a greater degree of autonomy, delivered their report on the talks' failure to the U.N. Security Council. The breakdown has raised fears of renewal of violence in the region. But while tensions are indeed rising, there are sound reasons why the worst-case scenarios - including new conflict in the Balkans - probably...
...Kosovo Albanian leaders are anxious to declare independence in coordination with the European Union, even if the U.N. Security Council remains blocked on the issue. The new country, if it is born, will rely heavily on E.U. backing and needs to maintain good relations with European capitals. Several Wstern powers, for their part, are fed up with Russia's and Serbia's refusal to budge on the question and have indicated a willingness to help Kosovo Albanians achieve their goal. And while Serbia has warned that it is prepared to implement tough measures against Kosovo if the province follows through...
...troika" - representatives of U.S., E.U., and Russia - officially declared on Monday that the four-month-long talks between Kosovo and Serbia have failed. From the beginning, it was clear that there was very little common ground between the parties: the Kosovo Albanians opted for nothing less than independence, while Serbs vowed that they would never accept it. Belgrade now says it is ready to retaliate against Kosovo if it tries to secede, as well as against any country that chooses to recognize...
...Last week, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov echoed those threats by saying that unilateral secession of Kosovo was "unacceptable." "The tensions are already rising in the whole region," Lavrov said in an interview to a Cypriot news agency. Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Romania and Slovakia are the only E.U. member countries that remain resistant to Kosovo's independence...
...what can Serbia really do if and when Kosovo declares independence and gets recognized by the bulk of the Western world? Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said on Dec. 4 that Belgrade's diplomatic response to the recognition of the breakaway province would be within a wide spectrum from "the very mild to the very tough, the toughest one being cutting off diplomatic relations with countries which violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia." Other measures may include imposing an economic embargo on Kosovo, stirring trouble in Bosnia-Herzegovina and other neighboring states, and turning to Russia...