US, Britain support Ahtisaari’s proposal on Kosova

TIRANA, March 26 – Washington and London immediately reacted to the proposal by U.N. Envoy Martti Ahtisaari in a support that is expected to be reflected in the final stages of the Kosovar status. They both hailed the proposal and expressed their full support.
Tom Casey, spokesman of the State Department, said that “after over a year of negotiations, UN Special Envoy and former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari has delivered to the UN Secretary General his proposals for Kosovo’s future status. We are grateful to President Ahtisaari for his patient, skillful and balanced work leading the Kosovo status process. The United States welcomes and supports his recommendations. The UN Special Envoy’s proposals will give the people of Kosovo clarity about their future for the first time in many years. They contain far-reaching guarantees to protect the rights and security of Kosovo Serbs and other non-Albanian communities. President Ahtisaari has also proposed that Kosovo become independent, subject to a period of international supervision. The Kosovo status process is entering its final and decisive phase. As the UN Security Council prepares to review President Ahtisaari’s recommendations, we will be engaged in full and intensive consultations with our Security Council partners and the parties. The resolution of Kosovo’s status should be seen in the historical context of the tragic circumstances of the break-up of Yugoslavia, which began in the 1990s. The UN Security Council, which in 1999 passed a resolution that placed Kosovo under UN administration and envisioned a political process to determine status, has long treated Kosovo as a special case. Since the crisis in this region began sixteen years ago, President George W. Bush and his two predecessors have worked to realize a vision of a Europe, whole, free and at peace. We believe that President Ahtisaari’s proposals will allow the region to move beyond the conflicts of the 1990s and towards a brighter Euro-Atlantic future.
Commenting on the presentation of United Nations Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari’s proposals on a Final Status settlement for Kosovo to the UN, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said: “The United Kingdom welcomes UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari’s final settlement proposals, which he submitted to the UN Security Council today in New York. We are grateful to the UN Special Envoy for his tireless efforts over the last 15 months and congratulate him on having carried out his mandate from the UN Secretary-General with professionalism and integrity. The settlement proposals reflect a year of intense negotiations and represent a balanced approach requiring compromises from both sides. They contain far-reaching and extensive guarantees protecting the rights and welfare of Kosovo’s Serb and other non-Albanian communities. The proposals represent a status outcome which the UN Special Envoy has described as independence, supervised by the international community. These proposals would give Kosovo clarity over its future. This is vital for Kosovo’s political and economic development. Implementation of the proposals would resolve the final status issue outstanding following the break up of the former Yugoslavia. It would enable the Balkan region as a whole to draw a line under the conflicts of the recent past and move towards a future based around full integration with European and Euro-Atlantic structures. The United Kingdom has played a major role since 1999 in the international presence in Kosovo. We will continue to play our full part in implementation of the settlement and look forward to contributing to both the NATO and European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) missions envisaged in the proposals. We look forward to working with our partners in the UN Security Council, on the basis of the UN Special Envoy’s settlement proposals, to bring the status process through to completion.”