Kosovo Still Insists On Independence

Kosovo refused to soften its demand for full independence from Serbia, derailing a last-ditch international effort Wednesday to forge a settlement and raising the chances of a showdown next month at the U.N. Security Council.

Western mediators acknowledged that three days of exhaustive talks failed to produce an agreement, but said the rival sides had pledged to refrain from using force.

"Both sides have made it clear to us that they are committed to avoiding violence," EU envoy Wolfgang Ischinger said after three days of deadlocked negotiations. "This commitment to peace must continue."

"A solution to this Kosovo situation is urgent," he added.

The stalemate dramatically raises the stakes ahead of Dec. 10 - the envoys' deadline to report back to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon - and increases the likelihood that the breakaway province will declare statehood sometime in the coming months.

"The peace of the region is very much at stake," said chief U.S. envoy Frank Wisner. "It is a volatile region. We're going into a very difficult time."

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders have vowed to declare independence unilaterally if the Security Council does not approve. Serbia, meanwhile, has threatened to impose an economic and travel blockade - stoking concerns of renewed unrest.

Hashim Thaci, a former Kosovo rebel leader tapped to be the province's new prime minister, accused the Serbian side of putting forward proposals "that in the past have led to murder and deportation."

"This is clearly not the way forward, and it's in opposition to the view of the people of Kosovo that the final status of Kosovo is independence," he said as the latest round of talks ended in the Austrian spa town of Baden.

Senior officials from both sides conceded they remain far apart: Kosovo demands full independence, while Serbia has offered broad autonomy but insists the southern province remain part of its territory.

Although the southern province formally remains part of Serbia, it has been run by the U.N. and NATO since 1999, when the Western military alliance ended former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

"We must appeal to the Serbs and Kosovo Albanians: Remember the bloodshed of the '90s," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned Wednesday in Berlin.

Kosovo's leaders have hinted they will declare independence early in 2008.

But critics, including Russia - an ally of Serbia that insists the Security Council has the final say on Kosovo's future - contend a unilateral declaration would set a dangerous precedent for separatist movements worldwide.

Independence would trigger "a domino effect" not only across the Balkans but around the world, Serbian President Boris Tadic warned.

While Serbian officials have threatened a blockade if Kosovo unilaterally declares independence, Tadic, said Wednesday that Belgrade would use only "all available diplomatic means."

"Serbia does not want violence and war," he said.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica reiterated that Belgrade would proclaim any unilateral declaration of independence as "null and void," even if "some states" recognize it, as the U.S. has pledged to do.

This week's talks concluded a four-month diplomatic effort that began with the collapse last summer of a blueprint for eventual independence drawn up by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari.

Ahtisaari's plan called for internationally supervised statehood for Kosovo. But Moscow threatened to veto the proposal at the Security Council, prompting the EU, U.S. and Russia to mount a final attempt at a negotiated settlement.

"Russia remains committed to a compromise solution," said Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, Moscow's envoy to the talks.