Word: kosovo
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...threat by Moscow to veto the plan in the U.N. Security Council put paid to any real hope of compromise. When Kosovo Albanians then renewed the threat to declare independence, whatever the objections of Belgrade and Moscow, Western leaders found it difficult to argue for an alternative. "Now that Russia has cast its lot so effusively with Serbia," said one Western official, "I don't see another five, six or 10 months of talks providing any significant benefits." Fed up with the stonewalling, the U.S. and major E.U. countries such as France, Britain and Germany have now signaled their readiness...
...everyone agrees. Most Kosovo Albanians, who make up an estimated 90% of the population, do indeed see independence as long overdue. But Serbia itself and Kosovo's Serb minority remain implacably opposed to the idea. On the eve of the final round of talks this week between Kosovo Albanians and Serbs aimed at negotiating a solution to Kosovo's status (legally, it is now no more than a province of Serbia), Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica vowed that Belgrade would "never let an inch of its territory be taken away." Kosovo Serbs warned of "permanent instability" if Kosovo is granted...
Under a mandate from the troika of powers overseeing Kosovo's future - the U.S., Russia and the E.U. - the deadline for a negotiated settlement on Kosovo is supposed to be Dec. 10. Several E.U. countries, while supportive of independence as a goal, are opposed to its pursuit in the absence of formal U.N. endorsement. Carl Bildt, the Swedish Foreign Minister and former top U.N. envoy to the Balkans, has urged Thaci not to follow through on promises to declare independence if the deadline is not met. "We need a soft landing in Kosovo," Bildt said. Right now, the best...
...Kosovo Albanians have been agitating for full independence from Belgrade since before NATO planes drove Serb forces out of the province in 1999. But the U.N. resolution which helped end that conflict left the province part of Serbia. Last year, the U.N. introduced a plan that envisioned "supervised" independence for the territory, with the full blessing of the international community. But Belgrade, backed by Moscow, refused to budge. "Kosovo is our Jerusalem," Bozidar Djelic, Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister, told TIME recently. "That's where our church was born. That's where our kings were crowned...
Russia, for its part, continues to insist that by allowing Kosovo to break away without the U.N.'s approval, the West is violating international law. Western officials counter that after experiencing the horrors of former Serb strongman Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s, it is pointless to expect that Albanians would ever again agree to live under Belgrade...