Serbia urges against artificial limits for Kosovo talks
Serbia urged Europe on Thursday not to set a December deadline for negotiations on Kosovo, warning it would harm the talks and persuade Albanian leaders that independence was around the corner.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Friday, October 05, 2007
"The danger is there. With a set time and a default position that amounts to their maximalist demands, what interest could the Kosovo Albanians have in negotiating in good faith?" Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg.
"As paradoxical as it may seem, without a deadline, minds in Belgrade as well as Pristina will focus on the means to reach a negotiated solution," he added.
He added that Serbia is fully devoted to the negotiating process.
"Certain members of the international community have told Belgrade and Pristina that they will impose the province's independence on Serbia and the region if we do not reach agreement by December 10," Jeremic said.
Frank Wisner, the U.S. representative in the Contact Group's mediating troika, said, however, this week that it is unlikely that the status of Kosovo will be resolved in 2007 since there is not enough time for the solution.
