UNPO: Kosova: Ethnic Albanians Worried That Status Decision May Be Delayed

Oct 06, 2006

Kosova: Ethnic Albanians Worried That Status Decision May Be Delayed

Ethnic Albanian voiced concern that a decision on the final status of the province may be delayed until the holding of elections in Serbia likely to take place in December

Kosovo, 5 Oct. (AKI) - Kosovo ethnic Albanian politicians and media on Thursday voiced concern that a decision on the final status of the province may be delayed until the holding of elections in Serbia likely to take place in December, as the United Nations special envoy to Kosovo - Martti Ahtisaari recently hinted. Most of Kosovo's overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian majority wants independence for the province - under UN administration since 1999 - which is opposed by its tiny Serb minority and Serbia's government.

The Contact Group for Kosovo - containing diplomatic representatives of from United States, Germany, France, Italy, Britain and Russia - had signalled they want Kosovo's final status to be settled by the end of 2006, however the Serbian parliament adopted a new constitution last week that states Kosovo is "an inalienable part of

Serbia

." The constitution has yet to be confirmed at a referendum set for 28-29 October, with a general election expected to follow in December.

Belgrade has so far only offered ethnic Albanians in Kosovo - who outnumber the remaining Serbs in Kosovo by 17 to one - some form of broad autonomy. Eight rounds of UN-led status talks between Serb and ethnic Albanian negotiators have so far produced deadlock on the central issue of Kosovo's future status, and little progress municipal decentralisation. The United States and major European powers have hinted the UN Security Council could impose a solution, possibly granting Kosovo independence.

Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland, told media this week that the status decision might be postponed. The international community fears that if Kosovo gained independence, the rightwing Serbian Radical party, the biggest single force in parliament, might profit from this and win the poll, beating pro-Western democratic parties.

Pristina Albanian language daily Zeri said on Thursday that prime minister Agim Ceku has "raised his voice against postponement," and other ethnic Albanian political leaders shared his qualms. Even the chief UN administrator in Kosovo, Joachim Ruecker, has warned that the postponement might "carry risks," but didn’t elaborate.

Kosovo's parliament speaker, Kol Berisha, has said that ethnic Albanians may lose patience and stage a fresh rebellion if the decision on the province's future status wasn't taken as planned. But Veton Suroi, an opposition leader and editor of the daily Koha ditore said that "Kosovars shouldn’t react with violence."

Daily Epoka e Re, in a front page article, criticised the Kosovo negotiating team for "deceiving" the public, because Kosovo would by the end of this year have “neither status, nor independence, nor an army."

Violence flared in the province when the Kosovo Liberation Army, supported by ethnic Albanians, came out in open rebellion against Serbian rule in the mid-1990s, sparking a brutal Yugoslav military crackdown. Serbian forces began a campaign of 'ethnic cleansing' against Kosovo Albanians, amid NATO bombing campaign that drove them from the province. Some 800,000 people fled to Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro and approximately 10,000 died in the conflict.

Kosova: Ethnic Albanians Worried That Status Decision May Be Delayed

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