Decentralization talks on the UN-run province of Kosovo held in Vienna

In the run-up to a high-level meeting next week on the future status of the United Nations-run province of Kosovo, delegations from Pristina and the Serbian capital of Belgrade met today in Vienna to discuss the decentralization process in the province, a UN spokesman said.

Yesterday the two delegations, hosted by the Special Envoy for the Kosovo Future Status Process Martti Ahtisaari, met for discussions on the protection of the religious and cultural heritage of Kosovo, UN spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters.

Next Monday’s status talks, also to be hosted by Mr. Ahtisaari, will be a chance to move the twice monthly dialogue from the technical to a political level.

Last week, Serbia’s Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu briefed the Security Council members in separate sessions regarding the province’s future status. Kosovo, an Albanian-majority Serbian province, has been run by the UN since Western forces drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid ethnic fighting.