European Union foreign ministers Monday agreed to put on hold a planned United Nations resolution on the final status of Kosovo, saying discussions on the future of the breakaway Serbian province should instead take place outside the world body, according to dpa. With Russia threatening to veto any UN Security Council resolution on granting supervised independence to Kosovo, EU ministers agreed to pursue further talks either through a small trio of key international players or under the aegis of the six-nation Contact Group. The international troika proposed by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier would include a representative of the EU, the United States and Russia. The Contact Group on Kosovo, meanwhile, is composed of the US, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Russia. The German minister said there was support for his proposal for an international troika as an "effective, small and manageable group." "We have to set in motion new talks between Serbia and Kosovo ... We have to find an efficient framework for such negotiations. This idea has been accepted," Steinmeier told reporters. Details of how this body would be set up and the EU's representative on it would be decided in the coming days through consultations with the UN and all 27 EU states, he said. Steinmeier appealed to Russia not to stand outside the process but to help map out the future of Kosovo. EU chief diplomat Javier Solana said the bloc "lamented" the failure of the UN Security Council last week to adopt a resolution on Kosovo and urged Serbs and Kosovars to take active and constructive part in the new multilateral negotiations. In similar comments, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told reporters Kosovo's future must be decided in a "managed and orderly way" but warned that the upcoming international talks would only be held for a limited period of time. "Around 120 days ... is the date on the minds of everybody," Solana added. Rehn insisted, meanwhile, that the discussions would be based on proposals for Kosovo's EU-supervised independence made by UN envoy Martti Ahtissaari. Ahtisaari's proposals were "fair and balanced," said Rehn, who also insisted that the EU must maintain unity on Kosovo. "We want to give negotiations a last chance," he added. Asked if the EU would use political pressure to achieve its goals, Rehn said the bloc would "speak clearly and carry a big carrot." The new EU proposals come after Russia last week threatened to veto yet another draft UN Security Council resolution calling for supervised independence for Kosovo. Steinmeier said he had discussed his troika proposal with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergi Lavrov and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "Now that we all have to presume there will not be a Security Council resolution, I feel it is important that we don't leave the ongoing process to its own devices," Steinmeier insisted. The German foreign minister said that stability in the Western Balkans was a key EU priority, adding: "The international community needs therefore to maintain its joint responsibility towards the region." Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn backed Steinmeier's proposal, saying it was important that Serbs and Kosovars came back to the negotiating table. "If they are not able to talk together about their future, then others will take the decisions," Asselborn cautioned. Moscow fiercely opposes any form of independence for Kosovo, arguing that this could set a precedent for other disputed territories. Serbia has said such a move would be a breach of its national sovereignty but concedes it could give special autonomy to Kosovo. However, Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim Ceku proposed Friday that the province unilaterally proclaim independence on November 28. The EU has warned repeatedly against such a move. Kosovo has been under UN administration since 1999, when a NATO air campaign drove out Serb forces after accusing them of committing atrocities against ethnic Albanians. In April this year, Ahtisaari proposed independence under the supervision of the EU after 13 months of Serb-Albanian talks ended in deadlock.
