NATO urges Serbia to cooperate with Kosovo plan

NATO urges Serbia to cooperate with Kosovo plan
15 Feb 2007 17:20:43 GMT15 Feb 2007 17:20:43 GMT

By Matt Robinson
PRISTINA, Serbia, Feb 15 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer appealed to Serbia on Thursday to engage constructively in a United Nations-led process leading to independence for its province of Kosovo.
He said he was not swayed by the Serbian parliament's adoption of a resolution on Wednesday rejecting a plan by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari that will set the ethnic Albanian-dominated province on a path to statehood this year.
"This decision will only strengthen my call to all parties, including Serbia, to work on the basis of the Ahtisaari proposals in a constructive way, because there really is no alternative," he told reporters.
Scheffer said he would be visiting Serbia soon to press the point. He gave no date.
Later, on a visit to the main Serbian enclave in the divided city of Mitrovica, a flashpoint for clashes where French troops covered his arrival by helicopter, he told local leaders there was no future in dragging out the process.
"I do not think endless negotiations will improve the situation. I hope the parties realise that a quick solution will have to be found," he said.
NATO leads 16,500 soldiers from 38 nations in Kosovo, down from 50,000 when the alliance entered in June 1999 after an 11-week bombing campaign to drive out Serb forces accused of killing Albanian civilians in a two-year counter-insurgency war.
Ahtisaari's plan would clear the decks for Kosovo's 90 percent Albanian majority to declare independence, after eight years as a de facto U.N. protectorate.
It must be adopted by the U.N. Security Council, and so far has the backing of the United States and the European Union. It provides for strict EU supervision and extensive protections for the Serb minority. But Serbs adamantly oppose independence.
SHOW OF UNITY
In a largely symbolic show of unity, parliament in Belgrade adopted a resolution binding all major parties into rejection of the blueprint, which was drafted by the former Finnish president after a year of fruitless mediation in Vienna.
Serbia authorised a team for final-round talks with Kosovo Albanians beginning next week. Ahtisaari strongly doubts any compromise can be found, and hopes to submit his solution to the U.N. Security Council by late March.
He has estimated that Kosovo could declare independence by September and quickly win recognition from the West.
Two people died in weekend clashes in the Kosovo capital Pristina between police and Albanians who say Ahtisaari is only prolonging Kosovo's vassal status, underscoring fears of unrest if a decision on independence does not come soon.
NATO has already pledged to keep troop levels unchanged throughout Kosovo's transition and into 2008 despite pressure from contributing nations to draw down their contingents as the allies face pressure in Afghanistan.
"The world is watching very carefully what kind of messages come from Kosovo, how mature the Kosovo institutions, the Kosovo citizens are to shape their own future," de Hoop Scheffer said. "You'll be heard, you'll be seen, you'll be watched."