Barroso: EU will remain loyal to a multilateral solution for Kosovo
The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso said on Wednesday the EU will remain "loyal to a multilateral solution" for the Kosovo status, thus dealing another blow to the prospects of a unilateral declaration of independence by the Albanian leadership in Pristina.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Thursday, September 13, 2007
"We support the efforts of the UN (...) We had to support the Ahtisaari plan because (former Finnish president Martti) Ahtisaari was nominated special envoy by the UN", Barroso said at a press conference with Serbian Prime minister Vojislav Kostunica in Brussels.
"We had given our support to that plan. Now, we are in a different moment of negotiations, we have the international troika, we have the representative of the EU, and are actively working with the UN to find a solution", he said.
"We are keeping our loyal position to a multilateral solution. That is what we have been supporting and that is what we will do", Barroso underlined.
He called on Belgrade and Pristina to engage constructively in the ongoing process under the umbrella of the international troika.
"We really believe that tangible progress should be achieved in the coming months and we are encouraging the relevant parties to show flexibility. This is the basic interest of Serbia, of Kosovo, of the region, of Europe (...) only a political dialogue can bring a lasting and solid settlement", Barroso said.
