US, EU, NATO back plan for Kosovo (2nd Roundup)

Mar 26, 2007, 20:07 GMT

Brussels - United Nations special envoy Martti Ahtisaari's plan for supervised independence for Kosovo received strong support Monday by the United States, NATO and the European Union, but was sharply rejected by Belgrade.

The blueprint - formally unveiled in New York by Ahtisaari - gives Kosovo 'the way forward towards independence,' US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns told reporters in Brussels.

The plan also assures the rights of the territory's Serbian minority, including protection for Serbian churches and monasteries, said Burns who is holding discussions on Kosovo's future with senior EU and NATO officials.

'Ahtisaari's plan says there should be supervised independence for Kosovo. We support that,' said Burns, adding that he expected the UN Security Council to adopt a framework resolution on Kosovo in April or May this year.

The US and the EU would be 'reaching out' to Russia and China - which oppose Kosovo's independence - in a bid to bring both countries on board, said Burns. But he warned that discussions were likely to be 'complicated.'

Albanian Kosovar leaders have accepted the UN plan but Serbia rejects independence for Kosovo as a breach of international law and a violation of its sovereignty.

In Belgrade, Serbian President Boris Tabic phoned Burns to express 'strong disagreement' over the US decision to support Ahtisaari's plan and reiterate that 'for Serbia any form of independence for Kosovo was unacceptable,' Tadic's cabinet said.

Other Serbian officials said they were confident that Russia would block Ahtisaari's plan from ever reaching the Security Council. Though a year of negotiations with Kosovo Albanians brought nothing, Serbia wants to ontinue the talks, officials said.

In Pristina, Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu welcomed the plan for an 'initially supervized independence ... which will be serving peace, stability and overall prosperity' of Kosov.

In separate comments in Brussels, EU foreign and security policy chief Javier Solana also said the 27-nation bloc backed Ahtisaari's proposal and was ready to play a more active role in Kosovo after the adoption of a UN resolution.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters that the 16,000-strong KFOR force in Kosovo would remain in the territory to ensure 'security for all.'

Both Solana and Scheffer insisted that the quasi-independence status proposal for Kosovo did not create a precedent for other disputed territories.

'This is a unique solution for a unique problem,' said Solana in an effort to ease Russian and other concerns about international recognition for other breakaway provinces.

Scheffer also insisted that the settlement for Kosovo would not have 'consequence or relevance' for other countries.