Future status of Kosovo still a problem for EU

STRASBOURG – Slovenian prime minister Janez Janša has said that Kosovo’s status remains uncertain and will be a big challenge for his EU presidency.

Janša was speaking at a plenary session of the European parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, where he presented his country’s priorities for the next six months.

He said that Slovenia was taking “progressive steps” to deal with the future status of the breakaway Serb province.

“We are all aware that certain concrete solutions will have to reflect the developments of the current state of affairs,” he said.

EU ministers agreed last December to support the ‘supervised independence’ of Kosovo, based on a plan drawn up by UN special envoy to the region, Martti Ahtisaari.

Fears over security also led to an agreement by the EU to send an 1800-strong mission to the province.

Janša said that although this was a positive step forward, the issue of Kosovo’s independence, and whether or not it should be recognised as an independent state, has yet to be resolved.

“The [European] council decided upon a good approach by deploying a European defence and security mission to Kosovo,” he said.

“A mission by the EU defence and security policy is being sent out to Kosovo and it is not being sent out to an internationally recognised European state. We seem to forget that,” he added.

In December last year, Serbia rejected the offer from Brussels of eventual membership of the EU as an incentive to allow the region of Kosovo independent status.

However, ALDE deputy Graham Watson said that Serbia must not be excluded from negotiations. He said that without Serbia’s cooperation in the international war crimes tribunal, the Kosovan and Bosnian problems could not be resolved.

Socialist MEP Hannes Swoboda said that the accession offer has been made to Serbia, and it must now make a choice between Russia and the EU.

But European parliament president Hans-Gert Pöttering advised proceeding with caution because of sensitive issues like the upcoming Serbian presidential elections.

“Both sides – Kosovo and Serbia – should be told that the EU is the perspective for both of these countries.”

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