Lastige gesprekken over toekomst Kosovo (en)
Belgrade and Pristina are entering a final round of diplomacy on the fate of Serbia's breakaway province today, but prospects of a breakthrough are bleak, as Serbia has ruled out "Kosovo's independence in any form".
On Friday (10 August), the so-called international troika - consisting of a representative from the US, Russia and the EU - will travel to the Balkans to launch last resort negotiations aimed at reaching a deal between the two disputed sides.
"We...are offering Belgrade and Pristina another opportunity - maybe the last opportunity - to work out a negotiated solution", Wolfgang Ischinger, a German diplomat appointed by the EU bloc to help mediate in a fresh round of talks, told the BBC on Thursday (9 July).
"If there is success of this effort, it will be their success, if there is failure of this process, it will be their failure", he added.
Diplomatic efforts have been shifted from the UN Security Council to the international troika after the New York-based body failed in July to adopt a resolution in the face of Russia's veto threat citing the principle of Serbia's territorial integrity.
The troika is due to report back to the United Nations by 10 December, but the international community remains divided over the thorny issue.
According to Mr Ischinger, the plan drafted by UN special envoy Marti Ahtisaari, which sets Kosovo on the road to its own statehood, is still on the table. "It is not our job as a troika to make new proposals", he said, according to Reuters.
On the other hand, Russia - Belgrade's staunchest ally - insists the Ahtisaari plan is dead.
Kosovo over the EU?
Serbia has also reiterated it "does not accept Kosovo's independence in any form", claiming it would violate the country's constitution.
"The president and government have their own constitutional powers, and even if we wanted to accept the territory's independence, we could not do so", Serbian president Boris Tadic was cited as saying by Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
"Just as any other Serbian citizen, the government and parliament must respect the constitution and do all to make sure its provisions are implemented. That means that the parliament would have to decide to stop EU integrations for the unforeseeable future", Leon Kojen, a Serbian former negotiator, told Serbia's radio B92.
"The only way in which the EU integration and Kosovo status can be viewed as two separate processes is if Brussels sends out an unequivocal message that independence is out of the question", he added, urging the Europeans "to make a final choice fairly quickly".
According to polls, 70 percent of Serbs want to join the Union.
EU dilemma
The main concern remains what will happen if a new round of talks fails to see a mutual agreement between Belgrade and Pristina and if the Kosovars declare independence on their own.
It is believed that the US would recognize Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence, but the move would certainly split the 27-nation bloc.
According to Reuters, the UK, France and Germany may be prepared to back Washington on independence, but others, including Spain, Greece or Slovakia are firmly opposed.