BADEN, Austria (Albanian Times) — Top Serbian and Kosovo officials began last-ditch talks on the future status of the breakaway Serbian province Monday, with hopes dim for reaching an accord ahead of a December 10 deadline.
The three-day meeting in Baden, near Vienna, is being led by the so-called troika of European, Russian and US mediators, who must submit a report on Kosovo to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on December 10.
Ahead of the closed-doors gathering, EU mediator Wolfgang Ischinger told journalists this was the last chance for all parties to reach a solution.
"After this we are going to prepare our report," he said, adding that after submitting this to the UN, the troika's mandate ended and he saw no possibility for further negotiations.
Belgrade and Pristina have yet to reach any agreement on the future status of Kosovo, and although both sides spoke of their goodwill and flexibility as they arrived Monday, they also reiterated their entrenched positions.
"We are coming with goodwill to achieve a compromise solution," Serbian President Boris Tadic told journalists, before adding: "We are not going to accept independence for Kosovo."
His prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, said: "We will not allow any inch of our territory to be taken away."
On the Kosovo side, outgoing prime minister Agim Ceku, who is attending the meeting with President Fatmir Sejdiu, said: "Our goal is to declare independence... within this year."
Hashim Thaci, who is likely to succeed Ceku after his party won elections on November 17, added: "We are ready for independence and we hope the international community is ready to recognise us as an independent state."
Kosovo, whose 1.8 million ethnic Albanian population wants to break all links with Serbia, has threatened to make a unilateral declaration of independence soon after December 10 if talks fail.
But Belgrade, backed by its powerful ally Russia, has staunchly rejected such a notion, offering instead a wide autonomy for Kosovo but within Serbia's territory.
Tadic warned Monday that if Kosovo declared independence and this was accepted by the international community, "we are going to have instability in the region."
"We are going to do everything that is in our power to avoid this scenario," he vowed.
Thaci on the other hand insisted that an independent Kosovo will "bring peace and stability in the region."
"Kosovo will be a country for everybody, (and) respect the rights of minorities through affirmative action," he said.
The province has been under UN administration since 1999 following a NATO bombing campaign to stop a Serbian crackdown on its ethnic Albanian majority.
But Serbia, which considers Kosovo as the cradle of its nation and religion, insists the southern province is an integral part of its territory and history.
In an interview with the Russian daily Kommersant published Monday, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said: "Frankly speaking, there is little chance" for a compromise.
"I am not much of an optimist," he added.
Russian mediator Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko told the Belgrade daily Blic: "The chances for a breakthrough do not exist but I do hope that there are chances for improvement."
Russia opposes any solution on Kosovo that is not acceptable to both sides and has rejected the December deadline for an end to negotiations.
But the United States has said it would recognise an independent Kosovo.
Diplomatic sources say European Union president Portugal and its successor Slovenia, which takes over in January, have called for a united position among the 27-nation bloc in the event of a unilateral declaration of independence.
But the EU remains divided, with countries like Cyprus, Greece and Spain concerned about a precedent that might encourage separatism at home. (AFP)
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