By Filipe Rufino - 26th March 2007
The EU and the US are backing a call by UN negotiator Martti Ahtisaari for Kosovo to be given complete independence from Serbia.
The former Finnish president said on Monday that "independence is the only option that will bring political and economic stability to Kosovo", adding that a long history of hatred and mistrust between Kosovars and Serbs meant that staying a part of Serbia was not an option.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said in New York that he fully supported Ahtisaari’s recommendation for an independent Kosovo supervised by the international community.
The EU and the US have welcomed the call, with EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana calling for a UN resolution to clear the move by May.
US undersecretary of state Nicholas Burns chimed in, saying "it's time the Kosovars received their just due".
Under the Ahtisaari plan, Pristina would be allowed to have its own army, flag, constitution and apply for a seat at the UN.
NATO and EU troops would keep the streets peaceful while an EU envoy would oversee key government decisions.
The Ahtisaari report was not welcomed in Belgrade, with even Serbia’s liberal pro-EU president Boris Tadic telling French daily Liberation that "Serbia will never accept the independence of Kosovo".
Russia also reacted with scepticism to Atsihari’s recommendation, with a foreign ministry statement saying an independent Kosovo would be "fraught with serious complications for stability in Europe," according to an Interfax report.
Centre-right MEP Elmar Brok told this website that Kosovo’s independence is inevitable.
“I believe this should be done progressively, but the end result should be independence from Serbia”, he said.
“Rules guaranteeing minority and cultural rights must be well clarified”, added Brok, the former chair of parliament's foreign affairs committee.
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