Hopes dimmed for an agreement from the UN Security Council over the future of Kosovo, with Western diplomats saying negotiations were deadlocked and talks would continue in European capitals.
The council's 15 members met behind closed doors Wednesday to hear from Vojislav Kostunica, the Serbian prime minister, and Fatmir Sejdiu, the president of Kosovo.
Kostunica insisted that Kosovo, a province of Serbia that is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, should remain part of its territory. Sejdiu laid out the Kosovars' demands for quickly gaining independence, a move that would be backed by the US and key European nations.
Kostunica said the country will not recognize any declaration of independence by Kosovo.
"Will for the first time in the UN's history a decision be taken -- contrary to the will of a democratic state and, what is more, of a UN founding member -- to redraw its internationally recognized borders, to abolish its sovereignty and to amputate 15 percent of its territory?" he said in prepared remarks.
But the Kosovars say they are ready to become independent.
"We are exhausted after nearly two decades of isolation, war and political limbo," Sejdiu said. "Lack of clarity about our status has held back our economy, discouraged international investment and prevented us from accessing international financial institution lending."
British Ambassador John Sauers said afterward that the meeting "underlined just how enormous the gulf is between the two parties," and he described the current situation in Kovoso as "unsustainable."
While Russians and their close Serbian allies contended any action outside the council would be illegal, Sauers and US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad insisted the 1999 UN resolution providing for Kosovo to be administered by the UN and NATO troops also contains the legal basis to move ahead with independence.
The US and Europeans insisted the issue of Kosovo's future status is unique, and would not set a precedent for other separatists groups as Russia and Serbia claim.
Khalilzad declared the views of the two sides "irreconcilable," and he said it was time for an independent Kosovo.
"The continuation of the status quo poses not only a threat to peace and stability in Kosovo but also to the region and in Europe," he said.
Although Kosovo formally remains part of Serbia, the southern province has been run by the UN and NATO since 1999, when the Western military alliance ended former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists. Sauers recalled that the deportation of ethnic Albanians in the 1990s was the worst since World War II.
Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema, whose country holds the Security Council presidency, confirmed the 15 members "did not reach any specific conclusions." But he said the council called on the parties "to maintain peace and refrain from actions that might jeopardize the security situation in the region," as they have both promised.
Wednesday's meeting focused on a recent report by US, EU and Russian mediators on two years of talks between Belgrade and Kosovo on the province's status. A four-month extension of the talks ended last month without agreement.
However, Russia said those talks yielded some progress and it called for further UN-sponsored negotiations on autonomy for the province. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin insisted there would be more UN talks on Kosovo.
Calling himself an optimist, Churkin said Russia believes "that negotiations can continue and they can produce an outcome which will be acceptable for the two parties and which would keep stability in Kosovo and in the Balkans."
Assuming Russia again blocks action in the Security Council, the Kosovo issue will move to the EU. In that event, Sauers said, the EU will push for internationally supervised statehood for Kosovo under a plan drawn up by a UN envoy earlier this year.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was