Kosova: Recent Elections Fosters Fears in EU
As the pro-independence candidate, Hashim Thaci, won the recent elections, EU members fear a unilateral move that could destabilize the region.
Below is an excerpt published by International Herald Tribune:
European Union foreign ministers Monday [19 November 2007] warned Kosovo against unilaterally declaring its independence, cautioning that such a move threatened to spur secessionist movements in
Hashim Thaci, the former Kosovo Liberation Army warrior-turned-politician, said over the weekend that Pristina would declare independence immediately after a Dec. 10 [2007] deadline. Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo claimed victory in parliamentary elections Saturday, and he is expected to become the province's next prime minister.
But the EU, whose 27 member governments remain divided over the province's future, is urging Pristina to proceed with caution, fearing that a unilateral declaration would cause the Serbian minority in Kosovo - who largely boycotted the elections Saturday - to align with
"We need a soft landing on this issue, or we'll have a hard crash," said Carl Bildt, the Swedish foreign minister.
EU diplomats close to the negotiations privately conceded that a declaration of independence from Kosovo was all but inevitable. But they said that they were pressing Pristina to ensure that such a declaration was coordinated with
"We are doing all we can to persuade the Kosovars not to make a unilateral declaration," said Jean Asselborn, foreign minister of
Wolfgang Ischinger, the German diplomat mediating negotiations between
One consideration is to offer both sides a so-called "status-neutral" agreement that would outline relations such as trade and border control between
But EU officials said they doubted that such an agreement would be accepted by