Pristina, Serbia – Kosovo took its first tentative steps Friday on the road to becoming what would look very much like a sovereign nation after a U.N. envoy unveiled a blueprint for the future of the tense, ethnically divided Balkan province.
The plan’s architect, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, did not explicitly mention Kosovo’s independence from Serbia in the proposal he presented to Serbian and ethnic Albanian leaders.
But his 58-page road map spelled out conditions for internationally supervised self- rule – complete with the trappings of nationhood, including a flag, anthem, army and constitution and the right to apply for membership in international organizations. It envisions a Kosovo “governing itself democratically and with full respect for the rule of law.”
Both Serbia’s pro-Western president, Boris Tadic, and its nationalist prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, immediately rejected the plan and reasserted the country’s claims to Kosovo as the heart of the ancient Serb homeland.
“I told Mr. Ahtisaari that Serbia and I, as its president, will never accept Kosovo’s independence,” Tadic declared in a statement hours after meeting with the envoy in Belgrade.
Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority has long pressed for independence and fought a bloody war with Serbia in the late 1990s.
Yet the mood was muted in the province Friday.
“It’s good, but we’re a bit reserved,” said Lutfi Maloku, 40, an ethnic Albanian technician. “It wasn’t called independence, and it allows for the Serb minority, which accounts for 5 percent, to hold lots of power.”
Describing his proposal as a draft subject to change, Ahtisaari said he would invite the rival sides to meet again Feb. 13 for negotiations.
He said he hoped to present a package to the U.N. Security Council – which will have the final say on Kosovo’s future status – by the end of March.
