Diplomaten EU, Rusland, VS proberen impasse rond Kosovo te doorbreken (en)
With a December deadline looming, diplomats from the EU, Russia and the US - the so-called international troika - on Monday (22 October) presented both Serbian and Kosovar leaders with proposals for a compromise solution regarding Kosovo's future status.
In 14 points, the international troika concludes that "there will be no return to the pre-1999 status" and that "Belgrade will not govern Kosovo".
It also says that Serbia "will not interfere" in Kosovo's relations with international monetary institutions and that Pristina will have "full authority over its finances", press agencies report.
However, the document does not touch upon Kosovo's foreign and defence policies or its membership in international organisations such as the United Nations (UN) - something Serbia strongly opposes.
Belgrade stated recently that it would offer the province "95 percent of competencies that are needed to govern" - but excluded accepting that Kosovo should have an autonomous say in these fields.
Under the proposal, the international community would also keep both civilian and military representation in Kosovo.
The EU envoy for Kosovo, Wolfgang Ischinger, said he remained realistic about the prospects of finding a solution acceptable for all parties ahead of 10 December, after more than a year of negotiations have failed to make substantial progress.
"I would be very surprised if it would be very easy", he stated.
Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday that NATO allies should be prepared for the aftermath of the talks' deadline, whatever the outcome.
"We are giving the troika talks a chance, but we are realistic", he said during a defence forum in Ukraine.
"Nations must plan for what happens after December 10", he added.
Serbia, for its part, has ruled out the possibility of military intervention if Kosovo declares independence.
"We will not take steps which will doom us to failure, no matter how much extremists on both sides would like that", its president Boris Tadic told local media.
Renewed calls for independence
Meanwhile, Kosovo's ethnic Albanian politicians have reiterated their calls for independence, saying that there will be no more talks after the deadline set by the international community for finding a solution for Kosovo's status.
"The negotiations will be over on December 10", a Kosovar ethnic Albanian negotiator was quoted as saying by the AFP.
"We want to be independent, with a seat at the UN", Skender Hyseni added.
Albanian prime minister Sali Berisha has called on Kosovar politicians to refrain from proclaiming unilateral independence.
"The Albanian government calls upon the Kosovo authorities not to take unilateral steps, but to coordinate the option that is left, because that option, for the moment, seems to be the recognition of independence", he said.
Russia has reiterated its position against the international deadline.
"We think there is no deadline, although the troika is bound to make a report to the UN Secretary General on 10 December and then give information to the UN Security Council", Russian deputy foreign minister Vladimir Titov said on Sunday (21 October), Itar-Tass reports.
"No one should have an impression that December 10 is a special day", he added.
The Monday talks in Vienna have made some progress, but possible agreement on Kosovo's future status still remains far away, a senior EU official told German press agency DPA.
The province has been under UN administration since the end of the war in June 1999.