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The U.N. mediator for Kosovo has
recommended independence for the breakaway Serbian province. From U.N.
headquarters, correspondent Peter Heinlein reports Serbian officials
called the decision "unacceptable".
In a long-awaited
report to the U.N. Security Council, Special envoy Martti Ahtisaari says
"independence is the only viable option for a politically stable and
economically viable Kosovo."
At the same time, Ahtisaari says the region is not yet ready to tackle
challenges such as protection of minorities, economic development, and
social reconciliation.
He recommends an international civilian and military presence be
maintained in the region for an unspecified 'initial period', until Kosovo
has the capacity to stand on its own.
Kosovo's 90 percent ethnic-Albanian majority hailed the decision, but
Serbian President Boris Tadic Monday called any form of independence for
Kosovo "unacceptable". He said Serbia remains ready to 'constructively
engage' in further talks on the province's future.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is in the Middle East, but
spokesperson Marie Okabe says he accepts Ahtisaari's concept of
'supervised independence.'
"The Security Council has been presented with a plan which the
secretary-general believes contains all of the right elements for fair and
sustainable solution to Kosovo's future status," she said.
U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns was in Brussels when the
report was released. He expressed Washington's full support for
Ahtisaari's conclusions.
Burns explained 'supervised independence' as a means to provide Kosovo
a 'way forward' toward independence, while ensuring the rights of the
region's ethnic-Serb minority.
"The European Union would provide economic assistance for a period of
time, NATO troops would continue to provide security and that there would
be provisions for security for the Serb population for its churches, for
its monasteries and for the people themselves, but that we have to get on
and see that Kosovo become an independent state," he said. "And the United
States supports that process."
Burns said he thinks the U.N. Security Council could pass a resolution
confirming Kosovo's future status either in April or May.
Agreement in the Council is complicated by veto-wielding Russia's
insistence that any Kosovo solution be acceptable to both sides. Ahtisaari
has said he reached his recommendation for independence only after
determining that the two sides were so far apart that a mutually
acceptable solution was impossible.
Nevertheless, Burns remains optimistic. He told reporters he expects
five to seven weeks of consultations to find the best way forward before
the Security Council votes.
Kosovo has been under U.N. administration since 1999, after a
three-month NATO bombing campaign drove Serb forces from the former
Yugoslavia out of the province, ending a deadly Serb crackdown on ethnic
Albanians.
The Ahtisaari plan sets the stage for eventual full independence for
the region, including provisions for a constitution, a flag, an army, and
guarantees that minority Serbs would be allowed to run their own affairs.
The plan also gives Kosovo the right to join international organizations
reserved for sovereign states. | 
