UN holds emergency talks on Kosovo

[maddezmom]

Source: ITN

ITN - 27 minutes agoUnited Nations officials are holding more emergency talks to try to heal rifts over Kosovo's declaration of independence.

Britain, the US and most of the EU are expected to recognise the sovereignty of the breakaway Balkan state.

But the move is bitterly opposed by Russia, China and Serbia, which declared Kosovo an "inalienable" part of its territory.

Meanwhile, protesters took to the streets in key Serb centres across the Balkans on Monday to vent their anger at Kosovo's independence declaration.

In Banja Luka, capital of the Bosnian Serb Republic, a march turned violent as protesters threw stones and eggs at police stopping them breaking into the US consulate.



Read more: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/itn/20080218/twl-un-holds-emergency-talks-on-kosovo-41f21e0.html

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EU ministers struggle to agree common line on Kosovo
18 February 2008, 14:28 CET

(BRUSSELS) - EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels struggled Monday to find a common line on Kosovo's independence declaration, which is staunchly opposed by countries like Spain with their own separatist concerns.

The EU's Slovenian presidency said the majority of European nations would recognise the new state, but Germany, one of the main backers of Kosovo's break with Serbia, cast some doubt on the attitude of the major powers.

"We will not take a decision today on recognising Kosovo's independence," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin.

She said Germany would wait for the EU foreign ministers meeting "to put in place a platform that will allow each member to take a position."

more:http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1203339722.06

[reorg]

1. EU's Slovenian presidency should have no trouble at all with this

they just need to literally follow the script they got from the US Department of State, LOL:

Slovenia centre of Kosovo status issue scandal
27/01/2008

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia -- Slovenia found itself in a bind on Friday (January 25th), when Ljubljana-based newspaper Dnevnik published a document in which US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried suggested that current EU presidency holder Slovenia should be "among the first EU members to recognise the independence of Kosovo". The document is transcript of a conversation between Washington and Slovenian diplomats on December 24th 2007. The US embassy in Ljubljana refused to comment on the authenticity of the diplomatic memoranda. (Makfax, A1, Beta, AP, Reuters - 26/01/08)

http://setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/setimes/newsbriefs/2008/01/27/nb-04

(The Slovenian participant of the talks, diplomat Mitja Drobnic had to step down due to the scandal).

"The Slovene daily Dnevnik, shadowed by the Serbian Politika, has made public a document in which a representative of the Slovenian Foreign Ministry records a meeting with U.S. State Department officials on 24 December last year. In particular, the officials discussed how Slovenia should help sheepdog the EU into recognizing Kosovo’s independence. (...)

The American side wanted Slovenia to be the first EU state to recognize Kosovo, at least 15 of 27 EU countries to do so, and the EU to agree on sending a mission to Kosovo. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon could then conclude that “the facts on the ground have changed” and call on the EU mission to deploy, without asking the Security Council. (...)

Kosovo will unilaterally declare independence, unilaterally sort of abide by the Ahtisaari plan, and be swiftly recognized by the U.S. and like-minded states. The EU mission will provide “international civil presence” required by Security Council Resolution 1244, and that, somehow, will take care of the formalities. The International Crisis Group, for one, outlined this scenario in early December.

There are fascinating details. A State Dept. official is quoted in Dnevnik as explaining how the Kosovo parliament should declare independence on a Sunday, so Russia would not have time to call a Security Council session before enough countries have recognized it…

http://christianmoe.com/eo/blog/2008/01/29

read more comprehensive summary in German

[Deny and Shred]

2. More nation building. These tricks of parliamentary procedure

are no way to conduct foreign policy. This has been in dispute for some time, and this is the America's solution? Get Slovenia to vote quick, then call the game?
I sympathize with the people in and around Kosovo. They've been through enough, and now they are a chip in the our unilateralist Neocon strategy. The US puts them up to it, but I doubt we'll be holding the bag if it hits the fan. At that point, it will be a European problem.

[maddezmom]

3. Britain, Italy, Germany, France to recognise Kosovo: ministers 38 minutes ago

Britain, Italy, Germany, France to recognise Kosovo: ministers 38 minutes ago



BRUSSELS, Feb 18, 2008 (AFP) - Major EU powers, Britain, France, Germany and Italy will recognise the independence of Kosovo, their respective foreign ministers said Monday.

"The British government has decided to recognise Kosovo," British Foreign Minister David Milliband told reporters, after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said Italy would "proceed to recognise" the former Serbian province, while his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier said his government would meet to do so on Wednesday

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080218/wl_afp/serbiakosovopoliticsindependence_080218162626;_ylt=AgwiVCBBVVsjTeEi4c1ZdjKQOrgF