Portugal on Wednesday called on the 27-member European Union to show a united front on Kosovo, warning that the region could plunge into violence if the issue is mishandled, reports reaching here from Pristina said.
Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado said new talks on the future status of Kosovo is likely to lead nowhere, calling on the EU to play a key role in bridging the differences between the two sides and help find a permanent solution to the crisis.
"It's a problem in the heart of Europe," Amado, whose county holds the EU presidency, said after meeting Kosovo's President Fatmir Sejdiu. "The EU needs to work to help stabilize the region. "
It was reported that Amado went to Belgrade and Pristina to hear from both sides their stands on the Kosovo issue ahead of a new round of talks, set for Aug. 30 in Vienna, Austria.
The EU has named German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger as an envoy to 120-day talks alongside the envoys from the United States and Russia, the so-called Kosovo-troika.
Majority Albanians in Kosovo have said that they will accept nothing short of independence, while Serbia reaffirmed that it will fight to keep its southern breakaway province in its fold.
Kosovo, where 90 percent of its 2 million population are ethnic Albanians, has been run by the United Nations and NATO since 1999 after 78 days of NATO bombing drove Serbian forces out of the province.
Source: Xinhua
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