A new round of talks on the future status of Kosovo will be held
in Vienna on Monday, which observers believe will not result in any
progress due to disagreement between Serbians and Kosovo
Albanians.
This round of talks might be the last direct dialogue under the
Troika comprising the European Union, the United States and
Russia.
All parties involved regard the talks as "a critical dialogue"
and its results would have a crucial impact on the future status of
Kosovo.
According to the schedule, the delegates from two sides, headed
by Serbian President Boris Tadic and Kosovo Albanian leader Fatmir
Sejdiu, would respectively meet with the three special envoys of
the Troika before the formal talks begin at the Austrian Foreign
Ministry.
The talks will discuss the Troika's 14-point proposal on the
future status of Kosovo, but the results are seen as gloomy by all
parties because the Serbians, with the support of Russia, are
against the independence of Kosovo, while the Kosovo Albanians,
with the obvious encouragement from the US, insist on
independence.
In spite of the gloomy prospects, Serbians hope that the future
status of Kosovo could be solved through negotiations with the
support of the United Nations. Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic
said recently that the new round of talks "might be definitive" and
that it's possible for two sides to find a common position if the
talks continue.
The US and the EU are against the proposal by the Serbians for
maintaining the talks, while Russia expressed its support to the
Serbians.
UN mediator Martti Ahtisaari, the former Finnish president,
submitted a draft plan in March, which envisions
internationally-supervised independence for Kosovo. This plan was
the basis for the draft resolution by the United States and other
Western countries, but was repeatedly criticized by Serbia and
Russia as being partial toward the Kosovo side.
Due to the opposition of Russia, the United States and other
Western countries decided not to refer their draft for the future
status of Kosovo to the UN Security Council on July 20, and chose
to encourage negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo with time
limitations.
(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2007)
