[ Kosova-o ]

Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland and leader of the negociations, has chosen his team: Albert Rohan (Austria), long-time promoter of EU integration of the Balkan region and of Turkey, will be his deputy and Stefan Lehne (Austria), collaborator of J. Solana and co-author of the constitution of Serbia and Montenegro, will represent the EU. Nevertheless, there is no consensus yet on the modalities of the negociations, and the Serbia and Montenegro team has still not been nominated.

Meanwhile, the pressure is rising: the Kosovo-Albanian Army for the Independence of Kosovo (Ushtria për Pavarësinë e Kosovës, UPK) has published a second ultimatum requesting the Provisional Institutions for Self-Government to declare independence before the end of the week (cf. IWPR article) and has again threatened Kosovar parlamentarians with death. On the other side, Serbian politicians are warning against any solution which would affect Serbia's "territorial integrity":

We are ready to give Kosova a good deal of autonomy. Any other option would not solve the problem, but rather cause a larger and deeper regional crisis. (Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, quoted by RFE/RL, 17.10.2005)

The role of the Kosovo-Serbs leaders (joining the Belgrade or the Prishtina team? forming a separate delegation?) is not defined yet, and other ethnic communities such as the Roma are completely excluded from the negociations, as Marek A. Nowicki, the Kosovo Ombudsperson comments in Le Courrier des Balkans (cf. also Shekulli: Pakicat serbe mbetën jashtë grupit negociator të Kosovës, 7.11.2005).