But then the process stalled, at least in the eyes of international officials and observers, and of Kosovo's Albanians. Those critics said the international administration here became unproductive.
Kosovo's Albanian politicians came to accuse the mission of a deliberately slow transfer of power to local authorities.
Veton Surroi, an ethnic Albanian publisher in the regional parliament, said, "The focus has been on buying time, and that's the only focus there has been."
In the next few days -- possibly yesterday or today -- a Norwegian diplomat, Kai Eide, is expected to give the UN Security Council the results of a study commissioned by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on whether to move forward with the talks on Kosovo's future, even though the enmities remain.
Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, has said he believes Eide will come out in favor of the talks, and pave the way for the UN' withdrawal.
The ethnic Albanians, who make up an estimated 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people, hope the talks will be the final step toward seceding from Serbia. But Serbs, in Kosovo and in Serbia, see in such a secession the loss of their homeland and some of Serbia's most treasured Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries to an Albanian-controlled state.
The negotiations among the Albanians, the Kosovo Serbs and the Serbian government will require international oversight, and almost certainly will result in some kind of international presence remaining in the province.
A decision on Kosovo's status would help solve one part of its economic problem, Rossin said: With its current ambiguous status, the province cannot borrow money internationally.
"We are in a situation where we are living off, almost entirely, customs revenues and donations from donors," Rossin said. "The budget is extremely tight; school construction is nearly nil in the year 2005 because there is just no money in the capital budget to do it in a place that has crying needs in a whole range of social areas."
What money has been invested in economic development appears to have had a marginal impact. The province's two power stations suffer daily interruptions, despite more than US$700 million in capital spending.
Kosovo's banking and payments authority report for last year states that the economy has been disinvesting since 2000, despite substantial international aid.
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