Kosovo Talks Deadline Expires, EU Ministers Continue Debates

World | December 10, 2007, Monday // 00:00

Foreign ministers from the EU are meeting in Brussels to discuss the Kosovo issue after the United Nations' deadline for an agreement on the province's final status expired on Monday.

The so-called "troika" of international negotiators - the US, Russia and the EU were to report back to the UN Security Council on whether Kosovo should become independent or remain part of Serbia, but talks failed.

The 27 EU ministers meet ahead of a leaders summit on Friday to discuss how to prevent violence if Albanians in Kosovo declare independence on their own.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has reiterated Moscow's demand for negotiations to continue beyond Monday as Russia, which has a veto in the UN Security Council, supports Serbia in opposing an independent Kosovo.

Just before the meeting, the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said that the differences within the bloc over Kosovo were being overcome, as cited by BBC.

He added that the EU would meet its responsibilities to take over policing duties in the province from the UN.

The EU and the United States had backed a plan for a gradual move towards statehood for the province where more than 90 percent of the 2 million population is ethnic Albanian.

Leaders of the European Union are expected to declare at the summit on Friday the end of the negotiations over Kosovo, which has been administered by the UN for the last eight years.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

World » Be a reporter: Write and send your article

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria