U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari said he is pessimistic about the new round of talks between Pristina and Belgrade, set to begin later this month, news from Belgrade reported Tuesday.
"Given the statements by the representatives of Belgrade and Pristina, the upcoming talks on the province's status do not look promising," Ahtisaari told a local TV channel on Monday in Slovenia, where he was attending an international conference on EU enlargement.
"Serbia even amended its constitution and gave strict directives to its negotiators, while Kosovo Albanians have not changed their position," Serbia's news agency Beta quoted him as saying.
Ahtisaari also cautioned Kosovo against proclaiming independence unilaterally, saying it would be "flippant and premature" and neither the United States nor any other country at this moment intends to recognize it.
After more than a year of fruitless talks between Belgrade and Pristina, Ahtisaari recommended last March supervised independence to the Serbia's southern breakaway province, which had been run by the U.N. and NATO for eight years since 1999.
The proposals were backed by the United States and many western countries, but were vehemently opposed by Serbia and its strong ally Russia that holds a veto power in the U.N. Security Council.
Serbia has stated repeatedly that Kosovo is an inalienable part of its territory and vowed to keep it in its fold, while Kosovo, where 90 percent of its population is ethnic Albanians, had said it will accept nothing short of independence.
A new round of talks on the final status of Kosovo, under the auspices of the troika envoys from the European Union, the United States and Russia, will resume later this month in Vienna, although it is widely suspected that the talks would lead nowhere.
Source: Xinhua
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