Jansa says EU will decide Kosovo's future without Russia or US

LJUBLJIANA, Slovenia -- The EU will be ready to act on Kosovo issue immediately after talks end on December 10th, Slovenia's Prime Minister Janez Jansa said Friday (November 16th), in comments quoted by the Financial Times. He said the bloc will come up with a common decision on Kosovo's future at its summit on December 14th, and that the issue should be resolved without the help of Russia or the United States.

The EU is likely to endorse plans for conditional independence from Serbia, provided Pristina accepts international supervision and guarantees the security of its Serb minority, the prime minister said. Slovenia takes over the rotating EU presidency in January.

Also on Friday, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States would be ready back the "neutral status" plan suggested by Wolfgang Ischinger, the EU representative in the international troika that is mediating the current talks. According to McCormack, the proposal is consistent with the US policy. (Beta, B92, Financial Times, Focus, SETimes - 17/11/07)