Belgrade sets rules for Kosovo talks

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Serbian government on Friday sent countries involved in negotiations over Kosovo a list of proposed rules for the talks, amid reports it was ready to cede some elements of sovereignty to the breakaway province.



The government said it sent the list to the ambassadors of the United States, Great Britain, Russia, Germany, France and Italy — the countries of the so-called Contact Group — state television reported.



The proposal envisages direct talks between Belgrade and Pristina, held without a deadline.



Belgrade rejected, as a basis for negotiations, a UN proposal that Kosovo be granted internationally monitored independence. But it still urged UN supervision of the process, the Tanjug news agency said.



Also Friday, the Danas daily newspaper quoted government minister Slobodan Samardzic as saying Belgrade was ready to grant some international rights to Kosovo, such as separate membership in the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank, as part of a compromise.



"The institutions of substantial autonomy in Kosovo could have cooperation with international financial institutions and could even have their own representation, meaning a certain capacity of independent conduct in international relations," Samardzic told the newspaper.



There was no immediate reaction from the Kosovo Albanians. They have rejected similar proposals in the past, insisting instead on full independence.



Russia's Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed diplomat as saying that direct talks between Belgrade and Pristina could start late next week. "We are simply considering such a possibility and awaiting a response from Belgrade and Pristina," the source said.



The Contact Group has taken over the negotiations from the United Nations after UN-brokered talks produced no result in the dispute between Serbia and Kosovo ethnic Albanians.



Kosovo is formally a province of Serbia, but it is inhabited primarily by independence-minded ethnic Albanians. The province has been run by the UN and NATO since a 1999 NATO air war halted a Serb crackdown against the separatists, the IHT reports.