BC-UN-Kosovo,0419

U.N. envoy says chances good that Kosovo final-status talks will remain on track

By NICK WADHAMS

Associated Press Writer

UNITED NATIONS (AP) – None of the standards set out by the U.N. for Kosovo have been met – including ethnic reconciliation or better security – but talks to decide the province’s future are expected to begin as planned this fall, a top U.N. envoy said.

The chief U.N. administrator for Kosovo, Soren Jessen-Petersen, told reporters Thursday that Kosovo’s new government, which took power in December, is determined to address a key stumbling block: relations with the region’s Serb minority, who have boycotted the political process for months.

“What we have now, which we didn’t have in the past, is a clear understanding that whether the Kosovo Albanians like it or not, there needs to be action on these clearly defined minority issues,” Petersen said.

The United Nations has set out standards on human rights, the rights of minorities and the return of displaced people that must be met before talks on resolving Kosovo’s status can begin. A final review of the process is planned for mid-2005.

Petersen and some other speakers giving a three-month update to the Security Council on Thursday acknowledged that none of eight central benchmarks had been met. But they were hopeful the new government would speed up progress.

Kosovo, legally part of Serbia-Montenegro, the union that replaced Yugoslavia, has been under U.N. and NATO control since a 78-day NATO-led air war halted a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in 1999.

Its status remains unresolved, with Serbs wanting the province to remain part of Serbia and its ethnic Albanian majority insisting on full independence. Some 100,000 Serbs and other minorities remain in the province.

The head of a special Serbian government committee for Kosovo, Nebojsa Covic, was far less optimistic than Petersen. He said Kosovo Serbs live in fear of Albanians and added that it seemed unlikely that Kosovo would be able to meet its goals on time.

“The results we are talking about are not realistic,” Covic said after the Security Council meeting.

The next steps for Kosovo are complex. Petersen will deliver another three-month assessment in May. He must then get final approval from the Security Council to do a final evaluation, which would determine if talks could begin on Kosovo’s final status in late 2005.

AP-ES-02-25-05 0453EST