Kosovo: Annan's envoy on final status for UN-run province meets with Serbs
Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, a veteran UN trouble-shooter appointed earlier this month to lead the talks, which could include the options of independence or autonomy for Kosovo where Albanians outnumber Serbs and others by 9 to 1, met with ethnic Albanian leaders yesterday.
Tomorrow he will visit the Serbian capital of Belgrade, where officials have declared their opposition to the province's independence.
Mr. Ahtisaari told a news conference in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital, that the pace of the status process would depend on the parties, but would ultimately be determined by himself, in consultation with the Secretary-General, adding that he had asked all sides to come forward with position papers, detailing their ideas on ways forward.
He stressed that he would be supporting Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Kosovo, Søren Jessen-Petersen, in the implementation of the standards, a set of eight targets in such areas as building democratic institutions, enforcing minority rights, creating a functioning economy and establishing an impartial legal system.