Ahtisaari soon on Kosova’s independence

TIRANA, Jan. 25 – International news agencies reported on the plans that are to be presented from the chief U.N. envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari practically making it independent, though not fully in the legal form. Reuters news agency reported, referring to diplomatic sources in Brussels, that Ahtisaari would present a plan freeing Kosova from Serbia’s sovereignty. That means Kosova may sign agreements with other countries and international institutions and may also apply for membership in those institutions, including United Nations, IMF and World Bank. It also asks for good relations Kosova should establish first with Serbia and also with other countries. The plan will also make a draft on how to divide joint assets in Kosova and Serbia. Minorities, that is mainly the Serb one, will have broad autonomy and should feel totally secure in the new state. All this may be considered as a ‘limited sovereignty.’ It is very clear that the world cannot imagine that Kosovar Albanians turn back under the Belgrade governing and independence is indispensable.
On Wednesday said in Strasbourg at the Council of Europe that his plan for the future of the restive Serbian province focuses on the protection of minority rights and envisages a strong international presence. Ahtisaari, who has mediated yearlong talks between Serbia and Kosova’s ethnic Albanians on the province’s future, is expected to present his recommendations to Western governments and Russia in the coming days. He will then offer the plan to Serbian and ethnic Albanian leaders on Feb. 2. “My settlement proposal focuses strongly on the protection of minority rights. It provides the foundation for a democratic and multiethnic Kosovo in which the rights and interests of all communities are firmly guaranteed and protected by institutions based on the rule of law,” Ahtisaari told the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly. “It also foresees a strong international civilian and military presence within a broader future international engagement in Kosovo,” he said.
Kosova’s ethnic Albanian majority is pushing for independence from Serbia, while Serbian leaders and the Serb minority in the province want it to remain within Serbia’s borders. The province has been under U.N. control since mid-1999 and is currently patrolled by a 16,000-strong NATO-led peacekeeping force.
EU diplomats have said Ahtisaari is widely expected to recommend some form of conditional independence for Kosova. Ahtisaari did not reveal more details of his plan to the Council of Europe, but said he hoped it would be widely discussed by both Serbian and Albanian leaders. “My idea is to engage both parties in a consultative process, to see if they have any new ideas. But … I’m not going to go around and renegotiate things (that are) done,” Ahtisaari said. “After this period of engagement I intend to finalize my report and get it to the U.N. Security Council, where the real end game of this process actually starts,” he said.
Ahtisaari’s proposals on Kosova’s future were delayed until after elections in Serbia so they would not influence the result. Diplomats have said they expect lengthy debates with Russia over Kosova’s future at the U.N. Security Council, which will make the final decision on the province’s future. Moscow strongly backs Belgrade’s demand that Kosova should stay part of Serbia while Washington favors independence for the province.